The Ship Inn

We are here to see a concert at Colston Hall just stopped off for a meal and a pint great atmosphere really clean great meal and lovely pint of real ale. Would definitely visit again

I really like the ship, it can be really studenty on occasion but the rest of the time its a pretty quaint, old man type pub which i kinda love!
They hold old movie nights now and again with free popcorn, drinks are always really reasonable and the bar staff are always a good laugh… ticks all my pub boxes plus, it’s 10 seconds from where i work.
After work drinks, i think so :)
The décor is a bit shabby/​vintage but with all the bloody wine bars in the centre i like having a wee bit of rustic charm thrown in.
Went here today for a couple of beers with the boys and its a great spot with loads of seating, very informal and will always be on my top 10 of Bristol pubs :)

Beware the opening hours! This place doesn’t operate with the standard 12 noon opening time. I’m not quite sure why, but Monday to Friday it opens at 4pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. So, if you come here hoping for a sneaky lunchtime drink, you’re going to be disappointed. I know I was. Sigh.
Once you’re in, though, what you get is a comfy, classic pub experience. It’s a rickety, old, dimly lit pub with big squashy sofas. It’s got a lovely old-​fashioned look from the outside, and inside, actually, and can provide a good escape from busy city centre shoppers and workers. You might find it’s a hotspot for drama students from the university, because their academic building and theatre is just up the road.

I used to pass the Ship Inn on my way to work and I remember when it opened last year. It was an appealing Ship Inn. It instantly made me happy to live in Bristol rather than my native Bournemouth where they have a grand total of two traditional old man pubs in the whole of the town centre. I remember thinking brilliant, another pub to hang out in. The Ship Inn tends to be a stop off for me on the way to gigs at the nearby Colston Hall or O2 Academy. It’s rarely that busy, but I’m yet to go at a weekend. The staff are friendly and informative. They didn’t have any Sailor Jerry when I went in so he ran me through some alternative selections, until I settled on a pint of my beloved cider anyway! I hear they are on the lookout for bands to play too.

Popular with students and nurses (especially student nurses) the clientele here is a bit of a weird bunch. Having said that the atmosphere is always welcoming, lively and friendly. This pub is best visited for a lunch time drink rather than at the beginning of a boozy night. The drinks here are reasonably priced and the range is pretty standard for a pub — with the odd local beverage thrown in for good measure.

The Ship Inn is in a handy location as it’s at the top of a very steep flight of steps. Just what you need at the end of the walk towards Cotham, a nice pint of beer and a pub lunch.
The clientele is a bit of a mixture. On one hand there is the traditional old leering men in the corner drinking local Ale. And on the other hand there is the young, vibrant folk from the Hospital. It actually makes a good mixture as it means the pub is rarely dead. The food ain’t bad, but it’s just your standard pub quality. At least it’s clean and tidy inside and you don’t get that thing where your glass sticks to the table. Toilets aren’t bad either — yay!

This pub has been through a few incarnations — it used to be a proper old man traditional pub, with nautical decorations, but since new ownership it’s been refurbished to a more modern feel, perhaps loosing it some of the character it previously had. It’s still got quite an awkwardly traditional layout, with many different levels over two floors. Downstairs there’s a pool table and a back yard for the smokers, whilst upstairs there’s comfy sofas and tables set out.
It’s in a slightly strange location as well — not residential enough to have a large amount of locals, but then not enough in town to be packed on Friday night. It’s frequented by people who’ve walked past — this means students, a lot of the hospital workers and those on the way into town. A good selection of beers and a well stocked back shelf, the bar ticks all the boxes and at the right prices.

Frequented by students, doctors and student doctors (amongst others) this boozer is too close to St Michael’s Hill and Park Row to be anything other than a stop-​off point (can it?) I tend to go here on the way to somewhere else, for the notorious ‘quick drink’.
This combined with the nothing-​y décor (it used to be all authentic and nautical to correspond to its name, what happened?) and the fact that it houses several university groups and societies during the week, gives it all a bit of an impersonal feel.
But, that said, there are a lot of sofas to sink into and a cider/​real ale menu to satisfy the most seasoned and picky of drinkers.

I remember when this place was a proper old man pub, complete with a colourful selection of regulars, beer soaked carpets, and terrible lighting. Since then they’ve put up cream wall paper, started playing African drum music, and cleaned the carpets. I’m not sure if the attempt to smarten up their act has been an improvement though.
Its sort of seems like its striving to be trendy, with nice sofas (which are plentiful and very comfy), and a good selection of beers. However, they quite pull it off. This is mostly due because bits of its past pub-​self remain, like a ships bow sticking out of a wall. It ends up feeling like a bit of a hodge podge of different styles and certainly has nothing on the stylish micro-​brewery over the road.
I shouldn’t knit pick too much, really, The Ship does what a pub should — you can relax with a beer just fine. The toilets are clean now as well and its generally a bit more welcoming. So, really it’s a good pub, just one that’s not quite sure about what sort of pub it is.

The Ship Inn is a large old-​fashioned looking pub on Park Row.
The pub always has a nice atmosphere and is usually busy and lively. The locals are mostly young people and students.
This pub does a really good selection of Tayto crisps, I love the Ham and Cheese Toastie Crisps that are sold at the Ship!
The Ship Inn do a pub quiz which they welcome everyone to join in with. I think you just had to pay £1 per person. We entered for a laugh and didn’t do too badly seeing as there were only two of us against some large teams. I would recommend this pub for its traditional style and friendly clentele.