to be annoyed that Premier Inn wouldn’t serve us at 22:58

[SweetMarmalade]

Virtually ran back to our Premier Inn last night for a final nightcap (it had been a long day) we were there just before 11pm only to be told the bar was closed!

Surely last orders are at 11pm and not a few minutes before.

The barman was still there, dp had got there first, dp said ‘but it’s not quite 11pm’ just a ‘sorry, bar closed but you can have water!’

AIBU that a bar should close on time and not before? The bar wasn’t full, completely the opposite.

Just bad luck

Probably quiet and didn't expect anyone literally running in with 2 mins to go

It's premier inn, they've got massive footfall and will always be booked out, they don't care about exacting standards.

I always thought last orders were called 10 minutes before closing time?

It was 11! Maybe your watch was two minutes slow?

Nobody could argue that they were unreasonable to have the bar closed at 10.58!

Why didn’t you just go back out to a late bar?

Traditionally, the phrase "Last orders!" is still often used to announce the last opportunity to purchase drinks, typically ten or fifteen minutes in advance and is often announced via a bell.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_licensing_laws_of_the_United_Kingdom

The poor staff probably wanted to get home. Having worked in retail there is little more annoying than someone rushing in at the last second wanting to be served (normally a massive order!)

If they had been quiet for a while before you arrived then they had probably already cashed up and emptied the till. Getting there at 10.58 and mentioning the bar actually closes at 11 makes you a bit of a CF in my book 🙈

They were not unreasonable.
They have homes to go to and having a drink is hardly a basic human right.

How shocking and terrible

And this requires a post on the internet? 🙄

Yabu. It's a premier inn.
If it had been quiet or they'd been understaffed they'd want to get home.

They can close the bar at whatever time they like.

YABU

You’ll know for next time that if you want a late night drink you need to arrive by 10.40pm at the latest.

It closes at 11 which means there was no way for you to be served and drink your drink in two mins. You were being somewhat cheeky to expect to.

YABU. Closing time is when all customers should be finishing up and leaving, it is not cut off for orders. That is last call which is typically ten to fifteen minutes before closing.

You were taking the piss even asking at that time. By that time it would have taken for the barman to sort your drinks and for you to drink them it would have gone over 11pm. He wanted to finish up and go home!

And this requires a post on the internet?
Innit.

As a PP has said, last orders in most places is before 11, to allow the bar to close shortly after 11. I often take a bottle of whisky away with me so I can have a nightcap in precisely these circumstances.

Aren't last orders whenever the staff feel like? Presumably they had homes to go to and didn't want to wait around for 2 people to nurse drinks?

Should have gone to a 24 hour supermarket and bought your nightcap from there.

Having worked in bars last orders would be called 15 minutes before closing time.
They close at 11. That's not last orders.

If the pub was particularly quiet they'd have cashed up, sorted the tills and stock & tidied up by 10:58.

They've homes, families and beds to go to funnily enough and their minimum wage pay packet doesn't cover reopening a till to sell you a drink.

Doesn't matter what traditional last orders are. They can pick and choose when and when not to serve. I probably wouldn't want to serve latecomers when there is an empty bar otherwise they'll be hanging around even longer waiting for you to go.

They have a bit of a reputation for this, they probably need to make it clearer where they display their opening hours.

Closing is 11pm, last call is around 10:45/10:50pm and after that, they close up. You don't normally have to have finished your drink, because the 'lounge' part is open, but the till is cashed up and everything put away so that the bar people can leave at 11.

You've obviously never worked in a bar and are very entitled, good call by the bar staff as you could have spent ages nursing your drinks seeing as you were so cheeky in the first place, staff do have homes and lives to go to you know.

If I were you, I would be asking myself why that drink was so important to you too.

Yes they need to state that they stop serving drinks at 10.45 or whatever and the bar closes at 11pm.

YABU! Bar closes at 11, that means drinks finished and get out at 11. Not rush in and get my drink and leisurely drink it while the staff who’ve been there for hours and just want to get home to their beds because they’re back in first thing in the morning stand and wait for you to deign to finish.

Technically in most places, last orders are called 10-15 minutes before time. Time is called on the dot and no sales can be made after that. However, licensing gives you a 30 minute window for customers to drink up and leave.

It sounds like they’d already closed the bar down, not expecting anyone to turn up.