The last modernisation the Royal Hotel underwent was getting boxy televisions installed. Before that it was the conversion to electric lights from those powered by gas. Don't let this sound like I'm taking the mickey. This is, after all, one of Smithdown Road's original 'gin palaces', a glorious description if ever I heard one.
Containing all the original features from when it was constructed decades ago in the reign of some long-dead monarch, the Royal Hotel exudes a shabby pride at having outlived everything around it, especially the many citizens buried under soil across the road in Toxteth cemetery.
A great place to sit and soak up the stark atmosphere of life in the Nineteen-Fifties, the pub is more a place to experience than come alive in. Still, at least it's cheap. read more