The Palace

[seahermit]

This afternoon, I went briefly into the Palace at White Rock. It used to be quite a pleasant pub with tables and comfortable sofas in the windows overlooking the sea. Good for meeting friends or drinking coffee whilst browsing your paper.

Phew! Have the management gone off their heads?! It's like walking from day into night, the walls painted black, few lights and the whole place so dark and depressing you can hardly avoid bumping into the few spartan-looking tables.

Needless to say, it was almost empty - on a sunny day when countless tourists are starting to walk by and wanting somewhere cosy for a break. I can't quite work out why a pub in such a prime location on the seafront has had such difficulty " making it work" but there have many changes to the decor in recent years. They don't seem to be connecting with what the public like!

I like the White Rock hotel - a bit bright but comfortable, always spotlessly clean and excellent food.

[Richard]

The Palace at White Rock is a good venue catering for crowds in a night-club sort of way.
When the Pier was hosting music events it was packed and I can easily see that it does not serve the ordinary casual tourists as it was not set up for that purpose.
Now that the Pier is in 'special measures' we will have to see what emerges.

[seahermit]

The Palace is a good venue ..for whom?! For just the crowd of young people who go there on one or two nights of the week to hear the live music? On other nights, the place is often closed and, as I said, in daytime it was almost empty.

That is hardly a sustainable business model on which to pay the rent. Hopefully I may be proved wrong but the Palace has had several revamps, still had great difficulty getting people in there during normal daylight hours. If they are dependent on whether or not the Pier is doing alright, that is an even worse business model!

Shame, because the pub itself is in a good location and used to have quite a nice comfortable atmosphere to be in.

[cbe]

If I may offer a view from a non-resident, I have never been inside this place because, to be honest, I always thought it looked a little bit seedy. It may have been 'done-up' since I last saw it but if not then THAT might be a reason why tourists don't venture inside.

[Richard]

I found the food to be good, generous portions, cheap and the kitchen spotless and the staff very friendly and attentive.
Films are often shown at the rear room, it's also a venue for bands, a great selection of drinks and craft beers at the very long bar and ample room to laze about near the dance floor.
Great reviews from tourists on FaceBook.
It's not open Mon Tues Wed.

[seahermit]

Most of these things could also be said of the Wetherspoon pub - good, cheap food, friendly and polite staff, good and varying selection of beers and craft ales.

Those attributes don't unfortunately make the Palace any less of a very strange, dark, dismal hole to be in, unless you are mad about bands.

The Weatherspoon pub is always very popular - that's the bottom line surely?

[Richard]

The Weatherspoon pub chain eh ?
I draw the line at that pedestrian run-of-the-mill, in-your-face, town-centre stuff!
The Palace is unique and has a 'vibe' it may not appeal to the world and his wife but I suppose it all depends what suits you really.
I know what I prefer, something a bit less main-stream, attracting a younger type bothering to dress differently, a little 'theatrical' if you like and certainly not 'plain vanilla' every day.
Variety surely has to be welcomed, otherwise we would just be plodding along in a dull drab life of 'Joe Public' dominating the scene.

[seahermit]

When I want good food in a comfortable, friendly, convenient location, I am quite happy with a pedestrian, town-centre pub. It is hardly a life-changing experience but it does its intended job and does it well.

When I want an uplifting evening of good music and great atmosphere, I go of course to somewhere completely different.

I usually get on alright with young people and find bohemian, artistic people the most interesting ones to be with. But I avoid like the plague the ones who go around in torn jeans and reversed baseball caps (to show that they are "rebels") - they don't usually have a lot between the two aural receptors.

[Richard]

I can't say I would ever be tempted into the Wetherspoon emporium or any town-centre pubs.
Perhaps the 'Dripping Well' but that is next to the one where the grungy base-ball caps hang out at night.
I really doubt that town-centre pubs attract many tourists either, just locals who feel comfortable there and want cheap drinks.
Nothing wrong with that and likewise 'The Palace' has a place on the sea-front, maybe not to everyone's tastes but some natty dressers are to be seen there and I find it both interesting to be in such company and feel at ease.
Something for everyone then, this has to be welcomed.

[seahermit]

It is fairly obvious that you don't go into the town centre an awful lot! The Tubman, next door to the Dripping Well, closed down as a working pub two or three years ago and is boarded up. No baseball-caps hanging out there, unless they are breaking in at the back ..

The Dripping Well is a really nice, quiet, traditional pub (although I am told they do excellent folk and jazz sessions at times).

The Weatherspoon pub does in fact attract crowds of tourists/casual visitors - more in the daytime I suppose, but I have met some really interesting people in there. I can understand that some people would see the pub as a bit large and bland, but it is not really so bad and, in view of the size, you never know who will walk in and start a conversation.

Yes, I agree that there is something for everyone in Hastings, good of course, but it does make for a very peculiar town - I have never known anywhere with such a mixed-up identity, inhabited by everything from suits ( a few) to jumpers/baggy flannels to denims/leather jackets! A place for everyone to fit in and one of the reasons I like Hastings - friendly and receptive, regardless of what direction you come from.