The Sun and 13 Cantons - Soho

Standing outside a pub at the end of a sunny(ish) day and pint in hand sounds pretty ideal for a Tuesday evening, so that's what I found myself doing. A group of us all nattering away about 'adland' and putting the worlds to rights but there's one topic of conversation that keeps arising. The smell of the drains. I mean it's not on the same scale as some other locations but all the same it did seem to strip the hairs of a lot of nostrils last night. 

Despite this, the shock of the smell in the ladies loos still hits me pretty hard and was somewhat unexpected to be on such a scale. I mean it stunk in there. And while pictures convey a scene of a relatively clean cubicle and only a few sheets of dropped loo roll to complain about, there's some things that pictures just can't show. The temptation to put a hazy green smoke over all the pics was there but whether it would have shown up on the puke green wall paint who knows.

All I can hope for is that some, just some of my beer money goes on sorting out them damn drains and not any more pointless hand soap.

Tiger Tiger, Piccadilly Circus

Well, after a session of all day drinking at a quiet family event I was lead into central for some life and to have a little boogie.

Tiger tiger being the place of choice I entered the toilets and on seeing the amount of cubicles in there and the 'freshen-up' lady I felt reassured that they couldn't be that bad.

How wrong was I? I had to ask  for toilet roll as the first four cubicles I went in had none. I then after having seen those ones began to get nervous that they were all going to be in the same state. My usual sense of logic kicked in, if I went to the cubicle furthest away the chances were that they would have been used less and therefore be in a more presentable state.

Nope. I was wrong again. I can only shudder at the photos and the memory of my experience and think that the amount of other people's urine was pretty well tied between what was on the seat and what was on the floor. Just a shame that the previous squatting girls were unable to hit the target.

I exit the loo with a somewhat shocked look on my face to be greeted by a worried looking boyfriend that had heard numerous girls coming out disgusted with the state of the toilets. Turns out if I had of been much longer he was about to bound in a take me to the spotless male loos.

Marquess of Anglesey - Covent Garden

Forgive me for the major tourist hotspot. You can't always chose where you go and this was one of those.

A well decorated cosy pub that at first made me feel welcome and at home. Different seating areas with tables, stools and sofa seats was a bonus and something some central pubs forget to think about. 

However, an hour in and the bad experiences all seem to come at once. Firstly a trip to the much dreaded toilet. And dreaded is unfortunately the right word in this case. You are lead on a long trip down steep stairs, no easy thing in heels - ladies beware! And then before I even enter the toilets I think the state of the door was warning enough. 

I was amazed at how a toilet fit into such a small space because I definitely didn't fit in there with that and a door that opened into the cubicle. I was also pretty disturbed by the scratched and graffitied walls. How much is a pot of Dulux nowadays anyway?

And then much to my shock there is the sink and some handwash in the cubicle with you stopping the door opening enough for the skinniest of ladies. At least it's somewhere to rest your chin while you are hovering over an unclean toilet with a seat that is clinging on for dear life!

On return to my table someone came over to the table with the bill claiming that I had to leave if I wasn't eating food - charmed I'm sure! But also, I know I should have expected this considering the location but £3.50 for a pint of lemonade! Well, won't be affording another one of them any time soon, I may as well have had a pint at £4 something! Lesson learned!