One pub or two?

Some of you may have seen my post on the That Doesn't Go There sub-forum on the subject of two entries for what in my view would amount to just one pub. In the two examples in Oban there are large hotels (which appear in their own right) and their public bars (which also have their own entries).

I've also come across the opposite, where we have one entry for what I would have thought were two pubs: in the same town there is the Woodside Hotel, which has a tiny public bar next to the hotel entrance, but round the corner there is a separate yard entry to what is denoted as the Creel Bar. Once inside, it is easy to go through the internal door to reach the public bar. So is it one pub or two? If it helps, the same beer was on the hand pump in each bar. :)

Another example outside Oban has me in a different quandry: the Oyster Inn has another pub next door, the Ferryman's. They are quite clearly two pubs, but we only have the former on the site. Simple, you might say, just add the second pub. However, the website for the Oyster makes it quite clear that the Ferryman's is part of the same operation. Two pubs or one?

I would use your own discrection on this subject
I went in a bar in Bowness which had two different names and seperate entrances but once inside the two bars were linked by a corridor so i asked at the bar if these were the same bar they said yes,so the pub has now got two names on one entry,the pub in question is Bodega/Sol Bar.

The hotel that as a bar with a seperate name should go under the bar name and delete the hotel name,that is my opinion.

Your last quandry about two pubs being part of the same operation,if they are seperate pubs then list them seperatly,lots of landlords and companys run more that one pub but if they are connected and you can walk from one to the other without going outside then in my opinion it should be one entry.

Hope that helps a bit

I was just having the same quandary over a couple of places from my recent Cleethorpes trip

The ground floor of the Kings Royal Hotel is in two halves, one being in theory the lounge bar of the hotel and the other an Irish bar called Mucky Muldoons. But they are both in the same building, are served from the same bar across the the rear, and have essentially the same character, so I think it would be a bit daft to separate them - will just explain the set-up in my review.

On the other hand the Swash Buckle Tavern and Bar Racuda are adjacent, share the same entrance and rear smoking area, you can get from one to the other without going outside, etc, but they are separate buildings, are served from separate bars, and have different character (the former being more pubby and the latter more clubby). So I'm minded to add Bar Racuda as a separate establishment.

I suppose where I'm going with this is that if they feel like they're the same establishment then I would put one entry but if they feel like different ones I would put them separately.

It's difficult to make hard and fast rules, and I think you have to use your best judgement in individual cases. But in general I tend to agree with Alan over this - if a hotel bar has a separate entrance and a different name to the hotel then I would have the entry under the bar name. I encountered this (in Airdrie of all places) and I asked for the name to be changed from that of the hotel to that of the bar.

Also, I reckon if you can walk between the bars without going outside then it's one pub. We have a classic case in Chiswick. One entry for both The Mawson Arms and the Fox and Hounds even though both names are shown above different sections of the pub.

But I reckon the answer is to make your own call depending on the circumstances.

Thanks for the advice and thoughts everyone. I suppose my problem is compounded by the fact that I didn't go into the Oyster Inn or the Ferryman's. I was cycling past well before opening time and just took some photos. So I've added the Ferryman's as a new and separate pub listing, and it will then be up to anyone who's visited one or the other (preferably both) to request that their entries be amalgamated (or not).

Cheers