Grilled Gambas Coconut Tomato Sauce
The Churchill

The Churchill

30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH, United Kingdom

Pasta • Hotels • British • European


"Myself and a few friends decided to visit this bar. We visited another upscale bar at Nobu Hotel and then decided to visit The Churchill Bar Terrace. There were seven us of in total consisting of mostly black women. We attempted to open the door into the bar. However, the entrance was locked. A waitress opened the door for us. Victor, one of the servers at the bar told us that he could not seat us as there were too many of us. I noted that there were a few available tables and seats dotted around the venue. However, he insisted that he could not seat us. I suggested that we sat by the bar as there were a few empty seats by the bar. I even saw about 2 people already seated there. Victor stated that they do not allow standing by the bar. We asked for other bar recommendations. He suggested we visit the Hard Rock Cafe or a local pub. We then asked if he could recommend upscale bars in the area. He suggested travelling to Soho. We left and walked for a bit before the group split up some decided to go home, while three of us said we would return to The Churchill as it's a smaller group now. Do note that some of my friends believed that the experience was a racist encounter. However, I disagreed and said that it was because we were a large group. Hence why I decided to return to the bar. When we returned, I noticed a black man seated by the steps with a waiter. I couldn't tell if he was drunk. The waiter said that they were not longer serving alcohol. We said that was fine. When Victor opened the door, he popped his head out and was essentially blocking the entrance. He then stated that the bar closes in 30 minutes so they were not taking anymore orders. We stated that we just wanted a drink but he insisted that the bar was closed. We then said that's fine as we just wanted to sit down until it closed. Victor refused us entry and said that he would not let us sit in the premises. After a back and forth discussion, he then suggested that we sit in the hotel reception area but that he would not allow us into the bar. I only saw white people in the bar. My friend then pointed to Victor and stated that people were ordering at the bar. He still refused us entry. We then decided to complain at the hotel. We spoke to Tomas, the night duty manager and complained about our experience. He took my details and gave me his business card and said that he would call me the following day to address my complaints. I did state that I would wait to hear from him before leaving my review. However, the experience was so horrendous that I could not hold off submitting my review. I am going to look into this matter as this behaviour is unacceptable. I can't believe that we're still being discriminated against because of the colour of our skin."