1954 Practical Bar Management by Eddie Clarke

PLANNING THE BAR

reap these benefits ? The answer is that he should install the bar in the most accessible position within the best possible surround ings. It should never be tucked around some odd corner, it must be made one of the showpieces of the establishment. This, of course, applies mainly to a hotel, restaurant or club, but there is the other type of Cocktail Bar, which is in a position of its own and entirely self-contained and which will present other problems. These will be discussed a little later, but there is one obvious requirement which is common to all categories of bars. It is a regrettable fact, but humanity's great failing would seem to be idleness and many people adopt the line of least resistance where pleasure is concerned, in the light of this, one acceptable fact emerges, the bar must be easily found. The best equipped Cocktail Bar in the world will lose much of its value if strangers cannot find it, or if it does not strike the eye of the man in search of a drink. Position, therefore, takes priority, and whilst on this subject, let us consider some desirable factors which by careful planning can easily be achieved. With reference to the Hotel Bar,there are a series ofsuggestions to offer in regard to positioning. The first being—and this really applies to all types of Cocktail Bars—it is advisable to install it on ground level, excluding all stairs, since many people view the latter in relation to alcohol with a certain amount of disapproval— sometimes fears of negotiability dampen their ego—whilst there are others who unfortunately, for medical reasons, must eliminate stairs completely from their everyday life. There is another point to remember, we are all creatures of whims and fancies, and one could name countless fads of various kinds; be that as it may, we are only concerned just now in contending with two opposite types of customers. On one hand there is the person who dislikes entering direct from the street into the bar, and on the other, the one who feels rather self- conscious about making a tour of the hotel before finally reaching the cocktail paradise. The obvious answer to this problem is to have two entrances, one making the bar easily accessible from the outside, and the other for the advantage of the hotel guests within the establishment. One point needs considering about the entrance from the street: try to keep it as far away as possible