Alvar Bar

I don’t like drinking in Hotel bars, i like to go out and explore the city bars but this Hotel Bar is really nice, with its huge chairs and plush sofas, the staff are friendly and the drinks are good, its a really long bar with loads of places to sit and chill and also has an outdoor terrace for those summery months. perfect.

The sibling of @CafeEzra, Alvar bar is the home of the cocktail ‘Wilson Espresso’ created by Alvar and on sale for just December 2012! This scrumptious bar is upstairs in Hotel LaTour. If you walk from the city side to the hotel, you’ll note the long bar through the window as you head towards the entrance. Confusingly, when you walk in, you are on the floor below so go back to your left and up the windy stairway straight to Alvar.
Take a seat at the bar or order your drink and get cosy on one of the arm chairs. You can even grab your coffee and sit at one of armchairs to the side of the bar area to work or make that phone call. There is a lot of room. For evenings, I recommend the seats at the far end of the bar, past the entrance to the also brilliant Aalto restaurant. Alvar bar is one of those places that transforms as the evening darkness sets and immediately you then feel relaxed. I recommend a late evening dessert, a ‘Wilson Espresso’ and a sit down on a sofa to relax into the night. Or this place is great for bar snacks if you want to catch up with friends.
Oh and listen out for the pianist.

I love working here. It’s one of the most chilled out environments in which to have a beer, a coke or a filter and to get your head down and work, or to meet to discuss business or just to lounge and chill.
It has a more laid vibe to the more immediate but brilliant Café Ezra downstairs … and when it comes to work, it’s great to have two different choices within one great building in terms of where and how to work.
As with all of Hotel LaTour, it’s all very spacious and well considered. The décor is lovely, there’s a variety of lovely seats to sit, you get free access to the Hotel’s fab wifi and the service is uniformly excellent.
I’ve sat in here for High (Afternoon) Tea which is amongst the best in Brum and there’s also an array of posh bar snacks to keep you happy when during long business meetings which are great.
There’s one slight distraction which is the piano music that is constantly on rotation playing easy listening versions of popular music favourites. They could change this up a bit.
That gripe aside, it’s still top notch and well worth the time to invest in coming here. You will return time after time.