Owners of many of the bars in Newcastle, PBR (Premium Bars and Restaurants) formally known as Ultimate Leisure have gone into administration. This is after a £48Million deal to buy the company fell apart.

3 establishments have been closed with immediate effect, which are Rewind in Newcastle, Advocate in Belfast and Sea nightclub in Glasgow.

They have debts of over £40Million, purchasing “The Living Room” chain in 2007 for £32Million with bank lending.

This means that many of Newcastle bars and clubs could be facing last orders, including Chase, Blu Bambu, Jimmyz, Sea Nightclub and The Living Room.

Personally i hope that The Living Room and Chase get bought out, and maybe Sea. The others can remain closed until someone rents the buildings and changes them into a better, profit making places. I have been saying for a long time here, here, and  here, that Blu Bambu needs a change, maybe this is a good thing to happen for the drinkers in the town. Give us a great nightclub again!!!

The Living Room is a modern contemporary bar in Newcastle located at the bottom of Grey street, on the corner opposite no.1 Grey street (The Vineyard).

It is a chain company, with other bars located throughout the country, similar to Revolution with a similar style. They are a late bar which is open through the day serving meals including breakfast as their open from 7am.

The bar is very small and cramped at ground level with lots of customers. The bar is quite slow because of this, and people standing grappling for position getting annoyed. There is a larger downstairs at basement level, and i would recommend you head there as there is much more space, there is a bar and it is a far more relaxed atmosphere down there.

In the basement there is the DJ playing out music (different music to upstairs) which is anything from pop to rock, chart, rnb and music you’d expect to hear in a bar of this style. In the basement it is very laid back, with an open plan style with comfortable seating around the central area.

The type of clientele it attracts are social 20-30 year olds, you can come here with your friends for a good drink, to chill out and not bump into any charva children or 50yr olds who think they are still 18. The only problem, as with all venues like this is you do get 1 or 2 people who think they are part of the social elite; in fact they are usually stuck up uni students or middle management types.

Drinks are moderately priced for this kind of place. Don’t expect to get a treble for £1.95, but do expect you will be able to get a good quality spirit if you will pay for it. The Living room sells a large selection of spirits (by the shot or by the bottle), cocktails, beers and bottles, as well as wine and champagne. In fact they sell basically anything you would want in a bar.

I have been to The Living Room in W1 in London, and it is a nice place with high cellings, there is much more space, but it is a bigger building. The Living Room in Newcastle is a great bar if you want to chill out and have a sociable drink with some friends.