Judging the Best Smoking Area award
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 9:30 It's that time of year again.
I'm en route to Crawley - in particular the offices of the Morning Advertiser, the leading pub trade newspaper - to judge entries for the BT Sport Great British Pub Awards.
There are sixteen categories and an even larger number of judges. We have all been allocated a category - mine is Best Smoking Area - and our job is to sift through the mountains (ahem) of entries and select a shortlist.
There are normally five or six pubs on each shortlist. The winners will be chosen after every pub on the 16 shortlists has received a personal visit from a much smaller group of judges. (This is known in the trade as a pub crawl.)
A few years ago I was invited to join a team of judges in Scotland for the SLTN Awards. I couldn't go because I was on holiday that week but it did sound tempting. Three days in the Highlands travelling from one pub to another across hundreds of miles of breathtaking scenery. (This is known in the trade as a bender.)
The awards will be presented at a 'glittering' event at the London Hilton in Park Lane in September.
Before all that though we have to decide which pubs deserve to make the cut. It's a gruelling task made worse by the surprising lack of alcohol.
(If there's one time I fancy a drink it's when I'm judging the Great British Pub Awards.)
Anyway, this is the third year I've helped judge the Best Smoking Area award and I have a simple rule. You may have the most wonderful outdoor area but if the words 'smoking' or 'smoker' don't appear on the entry form you've no chance.
We might add your pub to the shortlist as an example of what a good outdoor area looks like but to win Best Smoking Area you have to convince us that it was designed with smokers in mind and that you invested your money to make smokers feel welcome.
The best smoking areas are effectively an extension of the pub. They encourage inclusion not exclusion because even non-smokers will want to join you but it's clearly designated as a smoking area so no-one can complain when you light up.
There should be attractive tables, comfortable seating, heaters and (frequently overlooked) ashtrays that are emptied regularly.
Some form of shelter from rain and wind would be good too. Ultimately the best smoking areas are those you would be happy to occupy all evening, with your non-smoking friends coming out to join you rather than vice versa.
That's my interpretation. What do you look for in a smoker-friendly pub?
Reader Comments (4)
What do I look for ? I stopped going to pubs (and bistros, restaurants, cafe's) the day the Smoking Ban came in and I was never a great one for going to the pub even before then (quislings the lot of them-with a few honorable exceptions)....but I reckon you pretty much encapsulated what I would look for in a Smoker Friendly pub if I were to have to go to one; "Ultimately the best smoking areas are those you would be happy to occupy all evening, with your non-smoking friends coming out to join you rather than vice versa."
...which, as you are a non-smoker, is pretty insightful I reckon.
There is a pub near Blackheath,which I pass quite frequently, which I am sorry to say I cannot remember the name of. This pub has a double decker bus parked in its driveway, with the words "Big Red Bus" on it. I have been told that customers can drink and smoke on this bus, which sounds pretty good to me.
Unfortunately I have never been in this pub (or bus) as I hardly go to pubs at all these days, so I can only go by what I have been told. I will try to find out more!
I used to go once a week to meet my friend. We've hardly seen each other since. I was always more of a cafe, slow food restaurant type of person. Any chance you could extend this award? Some restuarants do try and keep smoker customers by providing clean outdoor areas and blankets - others are far too pretentious and clearly don't want us.
Thanks, by the way, chipping away with campaigns like this shows that we will never give up. As soon as we are no longer totally excluded from pubs, cafes and restaurants we'll be back so it's important to let them know that we do want to come back when we are no longer banned or treated like second class citizens.
What I do look for in a pub though is a discount for the discomfort of being treated less equally than customers who don't smoke.
Boisdales, for example, reduces the price of cigars by 20% if you take it outside. 20% off drinks for smokers who are not allowed to use indoor facilities goes at least some way to tempting us back by proving we are welcome and not just put up with.
“You may have the most wonderful outdoor area but if the words 'smoking' or 'smoker' don't appear on the entry form you've no chance.”
I’m glad you’ve been asked to judge this category, Simon, and I’m doubly glad that you’ve made that proviso, because I note that on the awards’ own website its definition under the “Best Smoking Area” category states: “Recognising the pub that provides the best outdoor facilities and attractions for its customers” which rather misses the point, doesn't it? Not to mention opening it up to every non-smoking garden with pretty flowers and swings for the kiddie-poos, in direct contradiction of the title. So thank you for ensuring that pious, anti-smoking-but-keen-lawn-mowing pub landlords don’t get a look-in in that category at least!