At the foot of my road sits one of Oxford’s major student pubs, and my hubby’s local, The City Arms. It’s generally not a favourite of mine, with it’s tatty decor and average pub food. When I visited for a review not too long ago, I was pretty disappointed. Tables may be set to turn though, with a thorough refurb imminent.
Part of the Stonegate Pub Company, the pub closes on 5th of January for almost 3 weeks, reopening on the 23rd January. Pub landlord, George Cupit, is looking forward to the new ‘Common Room’ makeover – which has been shortlisted as a finalist for ‘Best Pub Brand/ Concept’ in the 2015 Publican Awards this year.
All internal furniture will (thankfully) be new or completely refurbished, with the addition of some tables with power points and USB ports in them, you can also expect new flooring, new toilets (hallelujah), baby changing facilities (helpful), pubs quizzes, games nights, film nights, the introduction of five craft lager taps (which will have a large range of interchanging craft lagers) plus brand new food and drink menus.
For all those scared of change, real ale remains as do some lagers. They will also be retaining Sky and BT sport, while having several new TV’s installed to optimise the experience.
Additional new services to be offered include:
- Free ‘super-fast’ WiFi
- Free public printing
- Free ATM
- Secret DJ (free interactive Jukebox)
- New coffee station, to improve coffee all round
- Part astroturfed garden with renovated furniture, new table and chairs
The new look pub will be creating numerous job opportunities too, including a Kitchen Manager, Chefs, and Bar/Floor Team members.
Maybe I’ll make it my local after all! Let us know what you think of the plans for The City Arms renovation.
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