Charles Street

Fun but tacky.
This place is not an upmarket bar, its a velvet and leather clad, cheap booze bonanza.
Go here at the end of the night, get some cheap wine in and have a dance.
The toilet lay out was weird — open plan with a fountain in the middle for washing your hands and a huge wall of mirrors.
If you want to have a good time on a Saturday night with the girls, go here.

Charles Street is a gay bar situated on the seafront.
I used to come here very often when I worked at nearby American Express. You can always guarantee the place is full of people that work at Amex on a Friday evening after work, as they have a happy hour that runs until 9pm whereby ALL drinks are half price! It has an outdoor seating area so it’s quite pleasant in the summer on the warmer evenings.
Chalres Street pretty much empties once it hits 9 o clock, as everyone starts to move on to R Bar, Audio or the other nearby bars to continue their drinks before going to one of the main clubs.
Staff are always polite and friendly and always seem to have a laugh.
I can’t wait for summer to roll around so I can start going here more often.

One of the biggest gay bars in Brighton, which is a plus point compared to lots of smaller venues.
I’ve been coming here for years and see gay bars in Brighton go in and out of fashion, but for me I always return. I like the fact it’s spacious, has a good mix and crowd of people, a good vibrant atmosphere, and happy hours! Yes not happy hour, but happy hours!
It even serves food. Nothing fancy, just very average fast pub food, but at bargain prices.
It has a massive bar as you go in. The only problem is on a busy night it takes an age to get served.
On busy Friday and Saturday nights they ramp the music up and it makes for a good atmosphere (if a little hard to hear other people speak!). Yet I’ve been in at different times and the music is very much background music.
By now everyone must think I am obsessed with reviewing toilets in venues, but I must say this lost a star because the toilets are appalling. They have always been in a state. Sort in out Charles St Bar!
This is a great venue for meeting a crowd of friends and getting a table.

Went tonight 6 of us spent a few quid between us as we were leaving the torrential rain came there was a few women in our party hesitated in the entrance for a secOnd or 2 door staff incredibly aggressive and rude and unprofessional .had the same problem in vavoom a few years ago with straight door staff. stopped going until staff were changed. yo can have the best venue in the world but if you have rude and macho door staff at the point of entry it’s a lost cause. spoilt our night. not by some drunken arsehole by the door staff

Been in here a few times over the years, and one thing that does stand out to me is that the staff seem to fall into two basic categories: those that are very friendly and embracing; and those who regard pouring drinks for paying strangers as an affront to their sensibilities– sadly there is no middle ground. Last went in on a weekday afternoon in November 2011, as we fancied trying some of the food on offer; unfortunately, however, the barman present made us feel so unwelcome that we decided to leave after one drink and get something to eat elsewhere. (In particular, we got the distinct sense that we were being continually eyed with suspicion from behind the beer pumps– the kind of treatment you would expect from a Wild West saloon bar, not a gay establishment on the edge of Kemp Town.) That said, there are some very pleasant staff members there also; such a shame that it’s seemingly down to pot luck who you get, though!

One the best Gay Bars you can find.

Its a chain, but with friendly, efficient service and people who actually are involved in the local gay scene. They have recently had a refit and looks quite swanky now, with its light changing big bar! Nice cheap food during the day and club nights upstairs, including dj ali on mondays.

Kemp Town is known for being the gay area of Brighton, and within little more than a few hundred yards you’ll be able to find a number of gay bars, notably Charles Street.
As one of the biggest bars in town, Charles Street is hard to miss. I came here once before a visit to Audio and found it to be a lively and fun bar. There were a whole host of drink offers available, most notably Red Bull and Vodka for £2.50.
In the day time you can also get food here, the menu could be compared to somewhere like Wetherspoons because of its cheap and cheerful dishes.

Charles Street is another bar that suffered from over zealous interior designers that think a good night out must involve chrome, must involve TV screens and must involved laminate surfaces. Well I have news for you, you are not fooling anyone. Saying that, this place is stacked to the hilt in the Summer with hot guys and gals, they play some very good pop, they have a very nice outdoor seating area and for chugging cheap shots and pulling it’s probably a good bet. Upstairs is a very nice space to club in, it has good dance floor feel and it always feels spacious and fresh, they also have some of the better gay club nights if you like house and being brushed up against by sweaty nipples.

A regular work-​outing first stop, we’ve started many messy nights here with cheap drinks and even cheaper food.
With a wallet friendly cocktail menu and reasonably priced ‘Sharers’ for groups who want to snack together, it’s the perfect place to start a night before hitting the clubs in town.
An exceedingly friendly gay bar which welcomes anyone and everyone into its loving arms.
Decorated in funky velvet wallpaper with comfy armchairs and sofa-​like benches against the walls, it’s a great place for groups and has a variety of events on throughout the week, although obviously more tailored to its gay clientele.

Definitely the worst gaybar I’ve ever visited, probably anywhere in the world. The owners clearly see it as nothing more than a cashcow — it’s a heartless gay-​by-​numbers cavern of soullessness. When we visited on a Friday night, the place was virtually empty, devoid of any atmosphere (blaring cliché camp classics on a shaky soundsystem to somewhow compensate), and there was literally a fat man with a stepladder in the middle of the bar fixing broken lightbulbs. Seriously.
What’s amazing about Brighton is all the unique venues, exciting individual spaces, and fun creative people. Charles Street is the exact anthesis of all these things, spare yourself the hell and avoid.

This is a large gay bar right on the seafront. Right next to Audio, it’s not a bad choice for a pre club drink if heading there.
It has nice big windows onto the street, covered in garish posters advertising the various theme nights they have on here. I’ve (thankfully, as it’s not really my thing) never been when these are on, but most of the time it is a noisy and fun place to be, if a little rowdy (in a good way).
There is a huge bar in the middle serving surprisingly cheap drinks, with seating around the edge.
In contrast to the busy, noisy bar, the decked garden at the side has a relatively calm feel, and can be a good choice for an outdoor afternoon drink.

Charles Street was our first stop for Saturday Night on the Town. I had heard good things about it, but probably should have done a bit of research on the schedule of events… Saturday was X Factor night. Oops. Of the five of my friends, only one was a fan of the show. She made sure she got a seat facing the giant television, while the rest of us kept being startled by the loud whistling at the end of performances.
Drinks were quite cheap — £2.50 for highballs — and we stuck around for quite awhile, impressed with the ambiance (velvet wallpaper!) and mixed crowd.
Of the three gay bars we hit that night, St. Charles was voted the favourite. We’ll definitely return, though probably on a different night.

Charles Street is the most prominent gay venue on the sea front. Right by the Palace Pier the building is huge and illuminated with the rainbow flag colours. Inside is very modern and spacious, with alot of chrome and glass features. It plays host to an array on regular nights the best of which is Mad Cow on Thursday nights. At Mad Cow the drinks are dirt cheap, (from £1) and the bar always packed in a good way.
The venue also has performances from some of Brighton’s best loved drag acts and is always the epicentre of Pride. The only downside is its very much a preclub bar so post 11pm it can get a bit dead again. But always a must if going out gay in Brighton.

Charles Street opened some eight or nine years ago, and dragged the Brighton Gay Bar scene into the 21^st century. Modern décor, good music, friendly service and a central location quickly established Charles Street as Brighton’s busiest and best gay bar. Today Charles Street is still one of the most popular gay bars in the city, and still packs them in especially on a Thursday and Saturday night. Regular drink promos and entertainment, and a licence till 2am bring both locals and tourists in. Good pub for a few drinks before a club, generally a younger more mixed crowd than you will find in other gay bars in the city. Don’t expect a wide selection of traditional ales here, lager, Breezer’s and Vodka & Red Bull is the staple juice served there.

An M&B owned pub right on the seafront.
It’s big and has a good patio/​terrace area which is sheltered from the prevailing wind.
A food menu which is inexpensive and quite quick.