Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith, London

The Brook Green Hotel is a great spot for a drink or two in the evening in opulent surroundings. The décor is lovely: in the public bar upstairs there are big wooden tables, squishy sofas, and blue and white chandeliers, while the garden area is pleasantly leafy and decked out with fairy lights. It makes a spacious change from a dark, dingy pub.

I spent New Year 2008-09 here with some friends and had a wonderful time; tickets included a reasonably good buffet dinner, and there was great music to enjoy and the local swing dance class members to watch in the downstairs bar, which is cosy and low-ceilinged. I believe it can be booked for private functions.

The bar is pretty expensive, but they sell a range of interesting ales (including a banana bread beer). The menu is a mixture of classic pub fare such as pies and sausages, and pasta, risotto, &c., starting from around £7 for a main course. They also serve a decent cup of coffee, but I would avoid the hot chocolate which is malty but slightly weak.

They have live music on Thursday nights and occasionally run a themed evening.

I didn’t know this place before it got refurbished, but walked past it loads of times and thought it looked inviting.
Perfectly adequate place to meet someone for a beer and then go on somewhere else. Food wasn’t all that amazing and a little overpriced. On the plus side does have a small beer garden if weather’s nice. Maybe 3 stars is a bit generous - I’d maybe go for a straight middle of the road of 2.5 given the option. Plenty of other places in the vicinity that are better.

We used to come here to watch rugby games until they decided to refurbish the entire bar and seating area. Okay, the place could have done with a bit of spring cleaning. But that doesn’t justify pretending to be something you’re not and charging way too much for drinks and food now that it looks a bit more inviting to the general public

These four tennis courts are in the lovely setting of Brook Green, flanked by a children’s playground and the green itself.

The courts are free play on before 9am but after that they can be booked by the hour or paid for on court if you are unlucky enough for the guy to come round when you are playing. Three times out of five you can get away with not paying. It costs over £6/hour per court which I guess is reasonable excepting the fact that these are concrete courts with slightly holy nets and very uneven surfaces. Decent enough for a knockabout but no Wimbledon winner will these courts produce.

There is often a coach who gives lessons there. If I could afford it I’d definitely book him. The gentleman coach is some sort of Mediterranean Adonis. He is all ripply muscles and sun-snogged brown skin. He even has the long curly brown hair tied back and running down his back like hot water into a cold bath. He often plays topless.