Aston Hotel

[oswald funkletrumpet]

i saw the planning application about a year ago and it was for a womens refuge

[Legion]

Yew Tree is mainly for home fans but well-behaved away fans also drink there.

[dave.woodhall]

One way of solving the match days only trade problem could be like the system used at the races.  Contractors man the pumps on days when there is demand.  Problem is the drink prices go sky high to cover the uneconomic opening pattern.  A pint of lager bought from, say, Letherby and Christopher at Newmarket would be very much higher than a 365 days a year pub.

One of the other ways is to close half the pub off that isn't being used on none match days. Use a skeleton staff to keep the turnover. Most pubs outside a city centre rely on weekend trade which buffers the quieter times.
The breweries need to acknowledge this and not screw the tenants with extortionate prices on beer.
The main issue is that most of the time the breweries will see it as a problem unit, and put rookie licensees in there or managers on rotation. They do not care and are looking constantly at the calendar on when they are leaving as opposed to someone who will take it and make it work.

Football pubs are hard premises to run, but if run right, they can make great venues.

Most pubs aren't owned by breweries now; they're privately owned. The running costs for a place like that must be high even if you only have one room open. It's been shut for a couple of years and better a building like that open as something else than empty and vandalised.

[dave shelley]

I am deeply saddened to hear this.  Not that I care nothing for the homeless, quite the opposite, it's just that my earliest memories of going down the Villa was: my dad taking me to meet his brothers before the match and us meeting them in the Aston Hotel.  They went in for a couple of pints whilst I went out the back into the grounds with a bottle of pop and a packet of crisps along with a good few of the other kids.  Another memory gone.

[flybo]

i use it before and after every home game when open(after) with a few buds if i have to use the suite i will not be happy just not the same atmosphere in there. :-(

[Des Little]

Sad to see The Adventurers get demolished today too

[Villafirst]

"The match day experience" at VP has been shit for the last 6 years! This is supposed to be entertainment! Pure torture more like! Sad that these pubs are disappearing at an alarming rate. How accessible is the Holte pub these days? Never got an invite despite being a ST holder for many years.

[VillaAlways]

We use the Swan and Mitre Paid a one off payment of £2 about 2 seasons ago which gave us life long membership. Cracking pub!

[amfy]

"The match day experience" at VP has been shit for the last 6 years! This is supposed to be entertainment! Pure torture more like! Sad that these pubs are disappearing at an alarming rate. How accessible is the Holte pub these days? Never got an invite despite being a ST holder for many years.

The season ticket raffle stopped a few seasons ago. It is £4 to get in with a free programme (or £3 without a programme) but pretty easy to get in these days.

[DB]

It was our pub of choice up until about 10 years ago, when we all were single free and time to have a few beers before and after a match. Good that it's being put to good use.

[Clampy]

I hate the phrase 'match day experience'. As for drinks before the game, there's still plenty of places to choose from. The Holte Suite and Pub, Aston Tavern, Yew Tree, Aston Social, Sacred Heart and then you've got a couple in Perry Barr.

[amfy]

Sad to see The Adventurers get demolished today too

Very odd to see it gone as I drove past in the way home from work yesterday. It's not a pub I've been in more than a handful of times, but it has been part of my match day scenery all my life.

[saunders_heroes]

It was our pub of choice up until about 10 years ago, when we all were single free and time to have a few beers before and after a match. Good that it's being put to good use.

Yeah I used to use the Aston Hotel until that awful refurb (if that's what you'd call it), they had a DJ playing mind numbing loud music as soon as the match had finished when all the punters wanted was to have a drink and a chat after the match. It's such a fantastic building and while it's sad to see its demise as a pub at least it's been put to good use.

[darren woolley]

I used to go in the Aston Hotel some good times in there.

[The Edge]

The  vast majority of people living around the Aston Hotel are non drinkers. It had a spell as a bit of a ghetto pub on a Saturday night but it became pretty dangerous and wasn't worth the hassle. 20 home games per year would never cover the overheads. It had to go. Sadly.