[Lexi <3]

ive applied for chester and enjoy going out the nightlife seems a little dull from what Ive read is this trueconfused:???

[andym88]

Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are the main student nights in town, with most emphasis on Monday.


Friday is SU Friday, which is quite good. However, the queues are very tiresome to get in the place when it is quite obvious when you look through the window the place hasn't even start filling up - baffling. Does get fairly packed eventually though and is a good night.

Rosies and Cruise are the two proper clubs up town, I have preference for Rosies. Both are similar prices generally, give and take student nights and non-student nights.

The Cruise doormen leave a lot to be desired. On the first night of Freshers week last year (the Sunday everyone arrived) me and another lad were refused entry because we didn't have our student cards, despite the fact no one else did either as we hadn't received them! and they weren't prepared to listen to a word we had to say, so we went to Rosies with no hassle. Have been back to Cruise for 'beans' on Monday and got in no problem. However, the door staff can be a bit funny at weekends too. We didn't know the dress code and went there one Saturday to be turned away because I had boots on and my mate didn't have a proper shirt on. Went back the following week, not particularly drunk, with another mate, both had shoes and proper shirts on, wasn't particularly late either, to receive a 'sorry lads not tonight' greeting.
Although had the same grumble on Rosies once. Got asked for student ID on a Thursday night, when as far as I know it is open to students and non-students and my visiting mate isn't a student so they wouldn't let him in. Never had any hassle there on a Friday or Saturday though.

Off The Wall is decent, very cheap on Mon, Wed and Thur. Pay two quid to get in, two free shots and drinks start from about a pound or just over I think. Couldn't get in there with a t-shirt on because it had a 'glittery pattern' on, and another time (this was on a quiet Saturday night) because I had a light-coloured pair of Timberland boots on. But apart from that, it is fairly good. Every night is basically the same and music doesn't alter much but can't complain at the prices. Didn't expect them to have a picky dress code when they're a sports bar/pre-club.

There's another late place called Politic North, only been there once - open til 6am apparently, but was fairly drunk that night as well as it being about 7 months ago so someone else may have more info on the place.

Missoula is a alright for a chill out drink, there's also a Wetherspoons and a Lloyds, as well as some fairly premium places down Watergate, the Slug and Lettuce isn't cheap either. George and Dragon is one of the pubs on the way from Uni to town, all of which are a bit more like traditional pubs.

In short, it is OK, but is not in the same league as places like Liverpool, Newcastle or even Blackpool in terms of the amount of pubs or quality of nightlife. Still, Chester is only a small city and caters for the type of tourists it receives as well as the student market. Liverpool is only a short journey away, go there and get the last train back - far better night out, the door staff in Liverpool generally aren't egotistical tossers either. I don't particularly go out much in Chester, as I know I'd just be doing the same few pubs as every other time as there isn't a particularly varied range of 'top' places. OK, Liverpool and Newcastle are fairly big cities and Blackpool is a hotbed for tourists wanting a few days on the beer, so Preston might be a better example regarding size comparison and I'd say Preston is probably better.

For somewhere the size of Chester, the dress code is baffling - far stricter than a majority of busier cities I've had nights out in. Still, any males reading this, just be a sheep and wear a pair of god awful chinos, a striped shirt and some crappy plimsolls and you should be fine unless you want to get in Cruise on a Saturday.

[amy_daisy]

ROSIES ON WEDNESDAYS! honestly, there isn't many places to go out, but if you join a society, their "socials" are v.messy and socials are held on wednesday and they hold pub-golf and other bar-crawls, extensive drinking games, themed nights xx

[Lil2wkd]

Amy and Andy have pretty much summed it up-we have two clubs, many pubs, and a couple of bars. I'm not much of a going out kinda person myself, but there IS stuff on pretty much every night.
Monday: Rosies-Skint. Cheap drinks, pretty decent music. Cruise-Student Beans, apparently THE place to be on a Monday night.
Tuesday: Rosies-Gender Blender and Metal Pig. Gay night on one floor, Rock night on the other, with Pig ended an hour or so before Gender Blender so its not uncommon to have people troop from one floor to the other.
Wednesday: Rosies-GetOnIt. Pretty much the society social night. Quite common for people to finish their sports activities, head the SU for one or two, then head home, get changed, pre drink some more, then head there.
Thursday: Rosies-Three in a Bed. If memory serves, buy a drink in Missoula, get a voucher, buy a drink in Havanas (someone correct me here if I'm wrong), get a voucher, present both halves of the voucher at Rosies and get in for free. SU: Alternate weeks, Blackout-the SU version of Metal Pig. Can be quiet, can be busy, its just nice to have somewhere to rock out.
Friday: SU Friday is pretty much THE place to be. Its not for me personally. Price to get in varies, ranging from free if you get there before they start setting up and don't leave, £1 early enough (I think), then £3 after 11 (I think). Cheap drinks and a club night pretty much.
Saturday: I don't think anything really happens on a Saturday...
Sunday: SU-Alternates between comedy night and quiz night. There's also kareoke and cheap cocktails at Off the Wall. Our current SU president also DJs at Missoula in the evening.

Obviously, Cruise is open other nights of the week, but I only hear of people going there on a Monday, and Rosies is open all week, though I've personally felt its had less of a studenty vibe there as you get people unwinding from the rest of the week, plus as mentioned before plenty of clubs.

Chester I've found has a big pre-drinks culture-likely due to the prices being high simply because it's Chester. Having lived in Liverpool for eight or so years where nights out just kind of happened when they happened, I was surprised when for someones birthday we didn't get a taxi into town until half-eleven, not because it was late or we were waiting to get ready, but because thats when the night out started.

Also-BRING ID. If you don't have ID, then there is a good possibility that you won't get into clubs, whether you're male or female. I fully expect people to prove me wrong now, but I'm 28. I'm clearly not underage. Every time I go to Rosies, I get ID'd.

[andym88]

Yeah ID is pretty much a certainty for Cruise or Rosies.

[Lexi <3]

thanks thats great sounds quite good actually thanks for giving me the student perspective which I was looking for

[Slosh]

Don't forget the obligatory Blue Lagoon trip before or after nights out :P

[andym88]

yes, go blue lagoon, AVOID UNIKEBAB, the food is dogsh*t.

im the sort that is usually never disappointed with takeaway food either.

[hotaru]

Not sure if anyone mentioned Havanas or BarLounge,

Havanas is a great cocktail place but it does get really busy! It does food in the day and evening I think until 12pm. The restuarant is upstairs, they have a kind of bar area as well where you can sit down and a small dance floor too. It's really good for pre-drinks before Rosies or Cruise.

BarLounge is slightly upmarket though, it's way at the end of Watergate Street but it's good if you feel like splashing out once in a while! It's another cocktail place, I believe it has a bit of a dance floor though I've never stuck around long enough to find out what it's like -it's expensive!

Another great pre drink place is Telfords Warehouse, near New Crane St by the racecourse. It's a bit of a mission from town (only a bit) but it has such a great vibe. It's quite casual though and has bands on quite often. A great place to grab a cider and chill for a bit, or spend the whole night if you just want to chat and not go clubbing. Again, it's a great place so it can get packed! Find a table and stick to it!

Also if you want a drink and a show I would really recommend The Laugh Inn on Station Road. It's a comedy club, it's only been open for around a year but it's once of my favourite places to go. Pizza and a ticket is normally around £20 on a saturday night, it's well worth the money. You have your pizza in the bar area before you go in for the comedy show which lasts around 2-2 and a half hours with about four acts on a saturday night. It's open till about 2am on a Saturday I believe, the drinks are quite expensive though so you might not want to stay there all night.


My usual route through Chester is Telfords --> Havanas --> Off The Wall and then either Cruise or Rosies. Last time I went though I think Cruise was strictly over 21's only on a saturday night which is good if you're a bit older and don't want to be around first year students

Definetly save and do an all nighter in Liverpool though! Or maybe order a mini bus, black cabs and taxi companies most of the time won't take you all the way to Chester from Liverpool so make sure you have some prior arrangements.

[Psmith1975]

(Original post by Lil2wkd)
Also-BRING ID. If you don't have ID, then there is a good possibility that you won't get into clubs, whether you're male or female. I fully expect people to prove me wrong now, but I'm 28. I'm clearly not underage. Every time I go to Rosies, I get ID'd.

ID is a must in Chester, they operate Challenge 25 and they ID in Rosies and Cruise all the time. We've been knocked back a few times because people haven't got ID. I always take it out now as I've been ID'd a few times...I'm 37.

As for bars etc, Revolution, Missoula, Havanas and Watergates are some of the better places to go. The Rosies vs Cruise debate....Rosies all the time.

Post night out food has to be Go Fresco or Chic-o-land......

[Lil2wkd]

ChicoLand? Really? I went there once and was rather disappointed. Mind you, I was sober. The chippy round the corner from the Hangman was rather nice when drunk...

[Psmith1975]

You can't do chic-o-land sober, it's against the rules haha


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[skibunny92]

I'm off on my 21st birthday bar crawl tomorrow night and i'm wondering if anyone can help me out? haven't yet been out in chester on a thursday but i'm thinking cruise'll be our final destination since russel kane is djing there but i'm a bit worried about their strict dress code since we're all going out in t-shirts we've written all over. Just worried they might turn the guys away? anyone have any thoughts?? ta x

[T'archer]

(Original post by skibunny92)
I'm off on my 21st birthday bar crawl tomorrow night and i'm wondering if anyone can help me out? haven't yet been out in chester on a thursday but i'm thinking cruise'll be our final destination since russel kane is djing there but i'm a bit worried about their strict dress code since we're all going out in t-shirts we've written all over. Just worried they might turn the guys away? anyone have any thoughts?? ta x

Its propaganda night on Thursdays now at cruise, so quite studenty. You'll probably be fine getting in, I think their dress code for that night is basically hipster and its a night where they let people in wearing caps.

If you carn't get in Cruise I think 3 in a bed is on where you get three passes from the SU, Watergate Bar, Slug and Lettuce and Missoula which gets you free entry into Rosies. I think the dress code for that is really lax.