Marlborough Hotel

This place is completely ridiculous. I wasn’t let in here due to the fact I was a man and they clearly wanted a better ratio of men to women. It is a complete joke of a place! Women who were vastly more intoxicated to myself were allowed in while my friends and I were deemed too ‘drunk’, I’d had 3 drinks throughout the night!
I’ve been not allowed entry to one place before due to my intoxication. This was completely unwarranted! I had heard good things about this place, particle due to the lock out laws, but if his is the best Sydney had to offer now, I think I’ll stay in Brisbane.

An average, overpriced pub with only the faintest hint of individuality. Few would go out of their way to go here, so it’s a shame it’s so well located.

The bouncers here are failed paralegals and don’t let you in with a drivers licence that’s been expired for less than two years, even though it is clearly allowed and even after clearly showing them the evidence.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but there definitely been a recent refurb to spruce the place up.
We went here for a mates birthday and it was a great venue — good outside area, local beers, a dj, live band… what more could you want

great staff, great space. cocktails could do with a bit of work. just too busy on the weekends these days

Awful venue. Was waiting for friends to arrive, didn’t want to drink before they got there. Bouncer singled me out because I was alone and didn’t have a drink in my hand, and forced me out of the venue. Ran into some of the friends I was waiting for on my way out, but wouldn’t let me stay. Scumbag venue, never going back.

No

«Is the spring coming?» he said. «What is it like?»…
«It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…»
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
The Hotel Marlborough, as it now calls itself on it’s branded napkins, has had an extreme makeover in the back end. It has had some fine plastic surgery that even Donatella Versace would be chuffed with, and just in time for Sydney’s chilly winter season. Now it can be spring any time of the year or day, and you can soothe your weary winter bones in happy-​land.
As you cruise through the seemingly untouched front bar, where old mate hangs out with his footy loving mates and you can still have a punt on the doggies or the trots at the TAB, it is as though you have found the door to Narnia in the back of the wardrobe and you are greeted by a juxtaposition of a faux garden space. Complete with quite realistic astroturf,
I heard one punter say that «it’s a good thing dogs aren’t allowed inside, as I’m sure they might think of other things to do» on the imaginary parkland.
Trompe l’oeil are out and the real fake, 3D version is in.
The actual beer garden has had a bit of a scrub up too. Gone is the weird fountain thing that used to be there, and hello sandbagged bricks and stainless steel. New High bench tables and chairs. New Bistro window that promises they have Midnight Mexican, assuming you can still get in to the pub between 10pm and 3am.
Food options featured some nostalgic Aussie classic items with a contemporary twist. like a Chip sanga! (with house made bread) Potato scallops (with garlic aoli) as well as a few things which I figured would be a part of the Miss Peaches menu, which has just opened in the upstairs bar.
The Marly, as it is more commonly known, have mastered the Pub «Reno» concept. They’ve done a Jekyl and Hyde. They’ve had botox, but they’ve kept part of themselves the same. It’s true you cant please everyone, but the compromise of half and half pleased me, and Im sure old mate is pretty happy that he doesnt have to sit in some flowers if he doesnt want to.
No longer the dive bar, red headed step child of King street. The Marly crew have done it right. Ive been there more in the past few weeks than I have in my past 19 years of inner west pub going. Check it out again if youve brushed it before.

When I lived in Armidale, there came a point where we refused to go out to the Newie (The New England Hotel). It was trash — the music was no good, the venue was no good, it was simply a venue to drink too much and dance like idiots on the sticky dancefloor populated by bodies convulsing (sans rhythm) against each other. We were beyond that. Then we all moved to Sydney and went out to the Marly Bar and all of our nightmares were revisited.
The Marly Bar makes for a marginally better Newie replacement. It’s bigger, which means there are a few different dancefloors to choose from. The courtyard out the back is quite nice and the back bar area is a slightly quieter place to chill out. There’s usually a cover band playing in the front bar most weekends and whether they’re actually any good or not, they play all the songs that you love to hate and coincidentally seem to know all the words to.
The Marly Bar is the trashbag of Sydney’s inner west bars. Like at the Newie, the dancefloor is sticky and heavily populated by people rubbing their bodies against each other or jumping up and down in all female, drunken «I love this song!» frenzies. It is by no means a classy establishment. It’s not trendy and it’s definitely not the cool place to be. And yet, come 1am on a Friday night, it’s where we’ve all ended up. It seems you can take the trashbag out of the girl, but you can’t take the girl out of the trashbag.

The Marlborough Hotel, or the Marly Bar as it is called by some, who I guess, know it well enough to speak about it in such casual terms, is a strange kind of bar. It’s very dark down stairs, the lights dimmed to the point of pitch, which I like, leather seating and boothed tables.
The bar is done up and despite it’s art deco exterior with the sign reminiscent of an old movie theatre, it is particularly classy in the downstairs area. Clean and minimal in design.
Then, if you go upstairs, your senses are assaulted with tacky lighting and a sleazy vibe. A veritable feast of trashiness. A strange situation to find yourself, through the path of a stairwell, in a seemingly completely different world.
The drinks are a bit pricier and I’ve never found the security to be particularly pleasant.
The best thing about the Marlborough Hotel to me is the fact that it marks the turn I take to get down onto Parramatta Road without getting lost, due to all the one way streets and dead ends in Newtown, a marker like that is important.

Ahh, the memories… Coming from Sydney Uni, I’m very fond of this pub, known to the locals as ‘The Marly’. Whether it was to meet up with some friends for a game of pool and a couple of drinks, share a platter or pizza in the courtyard of Bar Prego, blame dangerous blood sugar levels on the delicious churros, or take advantage of the bottle shop on the premises to stock up on alcohol before the weekend uni parties began, we probably spent more time here than in class.
The Cellar is a pretty cool underground bar, decked out with swish furniture and soft lightning. You can dance the night away at this club or just chill out for a while to some funky beatz before moving on.
I may have detached myself a little from this pub after graduating but whenever I meet up here with friends for a casual meal, it still feels me with a nostalgic vibe of uni days gone by.

I would actually be a little sad if The Marly Bar had a renovation. The downstairs section is the usual mishmash of worn carpet, booths which have clearly been the recipient of a spilt drink or two, the requisite giant TVs, a few sets of fairy lights here and there, stools with stuffing coming out of cracks here and there, and so forth. And it works — there’s something endearing about this place. Mix in a regular visit by a psychic and you have pure kitsch.
The upper floor is a little more modern with a lot of mood lighting and matte black walls. The booths are set into a wall, with columns between each, so it does feel a little like you’re in a prison cubicle where drinking is encouraged. But that isn’t a bad thing, especially if you’re looking for a little privacy. Drinks are pretty cheap in here and the close proximity to the hospital and Sydney Uni make it a very popular destination for students and medical staff alike to blow off some steam.

The Marlborough or ‘Marly’ is prominently positioned on the corner of King Street and Missenden Road. Its proximity to Sydney Uni and RPA gives some indication of clientele on a weeknight, but the crowd is very diverse. It spreads over three levels and includes a front bar with stage, downstairs function area, back cocktail bar with adjoining restaurant and an outside beer garden. Upstairs is another bar with elevated balcony overlooking the street scape.
As long term yet infrequent visitor to the Marly I visited on the weekend for a catch up with friends and family. The family had twins in a pram and stuck them down on a blanket on the carpeted section near the toilets, but the staff said this was not allowed. This is understandable in a busy pub on the weekend, but believe it or not the pub was practically empty.
The majority of people were either in the front bar or the back beer garden, with spare seats and room for more.
As I pondered the lack of people I checked the menu and found the reason — the food is expensive. In Newtown there is no shortage of places to eat, with rival pubs like the Coopers bringing out some tasty tucker and hundreds of other restaurants. Food at the Marly is decent, with specials like pot pie and pasta, but to justify the high prices it has to be exceptional. Which it’s not, hence the reason why there were only two tables for lunch.

The Marley bar is a great draw for the locals as it seems to offer about anything and everything.
The ground floor is carpeted and furnished with stools, nailing the relaxed and friendly vibe of a pub. You’ll find groups of students and young people clustered here for relaxed afternoon drinks and good old pub food.
Upstairs is a bit more ritzy with mirrored walls, a balcony and a big open space that transforms into a dancefloor as the sun goes down. I popped along here for happy hour (7−8pm) where the cocktails are 2 for 1 and my, were those cocktails good.
They came in those smart fluted glasses that make you feel like you’re in Sex and the City and I found the variety impressive. I had an Easy Lay, no, not that type, it was a mango cocktail which was juicy and very subtly laced with alcohol, I also tried their watermelon mojito which was divine. The glasses were packed with hunks of watermelon, ice, mint and lined beautifully with sugar.
Food is available up here too, (even if it does feel slightly odd nibbling on wedges next to a dancefloor) making this a pretty ideal spot to while away a night out!

Affectionately known as the Marly Bar, this popular Newtown pub makes a great place for a drink, a chat with friends, to catch up on some sport or local gossip and to get some hearty pub grub. It’s useful to know that attached to the bar, the Marly has its own bottle shop too.
Tuesday is trivia night, something which draws many locals and competitive know-​it-​alls to outwit their friends with general knowledge. It gets full quickly, and I’d recommend getting here early to grab a good table, especially if you want to make the most of their $ 10 steak or schnitzel and drink combo. The questions are predictably bizarre, but the atmosphere is light hearted. Of course, our team had no hope of winning, but we had a good crack at the identify-​the-​person round, and resisted texting our nerdy friends to find out the answers. The food was good too — excellent value and tasty, without being completely delicious. Service was a bit slow and disjointed — a good 10 minute gap in between two of the main courses arriving and the final one, despite all being ordered at the same time. My one criticism of the trivia night is that it dragged on a bit long — after starting 40 minutes late, it was 10.30pm by the time the sheets were being collected for marking. On a weekday night, our spirits by that point were flagging.
Nevertheless, I liked the atmosphere in the Marly. They offer a range of deals throughout the week — Wednesday is student night, with $ 7 cocktails between 6.30 and 8pm and $ 10 beer jugs until 8pm. Another thing that looked very tempting was their $ 10 all day pizza — the pizzas here are crisp and freshly made, and at total bargain at $ 10. This is a great venue if you want no-​frills pub food and a good atmosphere to relax with mates.