One of the most beautiful pubs in London, the Princess Louise has reopened its doors after being closed for more than a year.

Classically Victorian, with beautiful stained glass and heavy gilt decorations on the walls and ceiling, the interior is very impressive.
New compartments that limit the space but highlight the period feel mean that you must get there early to have a decent space during rush hours.

If not for the beer, this pub is worth a visit just for the décor, although in this case the ale does not disappoint!

This pub is fab. I’m a fan of Sam Smiths and this might be my favourite Sam Smiths pub (though it would be a tough call between this and The Angel). It’s one of the only places in Holborn that I actually enjoy drinking. The rest of the area is a bit pointless to me. (If someone can tell me of other places in the area that would be great!)

I get lost in here. And that’s fun. I like that there are a million doos and little seating areas and it feels like you’re in your own special bit of the pub. This is fun. It doesn’t get too busy in here. Nor is it too empty. It’s actually just right. Like the Goldilocks of pubs.

They’ve got a log fire at the back and in winter that’s pretty lovely. Couple with a glass of red, it becomes the perfect place to have a snuggly chat.

I don’t know what the pub looked like before they did it up, but I like it now and if I’m ever in the area, it’s the first place I’ll go.

The Princess Louise is simply the best looking pub in London, it stands tall as one of the great Kings of pubs.

It was a beautiful drinking hole before its recent refurbishment, but after a nightmarish wait that appeared to go on for years she opened up to a whole new glory. Even the grade C listed toilets survived, and by some miracle the smell has been removed.

The new sectioned off areas give the impression of stepping back into a Victorian gin palace, the emphasis being on ‘palace’ not some scruffy gin joint where you’d find Bill Sykes in the corner and Nancy wretching up another song me dears.

The landlord is a big, friendly landlord stereotype and the staff are all efficient and amiable. The drinking fare is Sam Smith’s and that sits just fine with me; cheap and exceptional. Being so close to Holborn station ‘the Louise’ (as we like to call it) has a wonderful location and with her new booths it may just be a perfect venue for a date (pre-sophisticated dinner of course, ying and yang like).

A failure to visit and enjoy this place is a failure to visit London itself.

This is a wonderful pub.

It’s a Sam Smith’s so standard Sam Smith’s branded drinks and snacks at standard Sam Smith’s prices.

Inside it is real old fashioned, like. There is an awful lot of ornate woodwork and a few fireplaces and gilt mirrors and that sort of stuff. Lovely olde worlde stuff.

What makes this a particularly nice watering hole is the partitions that are up across the whole pub making into a bit of a maze when trying to find your friends, and then like a private area when you have found them.

With a location on High Holborn, this makes The Princess Louise, a right royal escape from the madess of Oxford Street and co.