Hard lines for the married wine drinker

Press, 22 February 1978, Page 6

Hard lines for the married wine drinker

It used to be “men only” bars but now a Christchurch hotel has thought up a new brand of exclusiveness.

The Imperial Hotel has barred married people from its wine parlour from 6 p.m. onwards on Tuesday evenings. One of the joint managers at the hotel, Mrs J. H. Roberts, said last evening that the first nigh: had been verv successfid. By 8 p.m. there were about 300 in the bar. “We do not check people to see if they are married,” she said. “We just rely on trust.”

However, there is an offer of a free bottle of wine to anyone potting a married person. If the management heard that someone in the bar was not single they were politely evicted, Mrs Roberts said.

She said the venture was not illegal. The idea had

come from Mr E. C. Hunter, the other manager «f the hotel. The chairman of the Canterbun, Licensing Committee (Mr F. G. Paterson. S.M.) said last evening that, provided there were ether bars in the hotel that patrons could go to, there was nothing discriminatory or illegal about the new “singles bar” at the Imperial.

“There is a lot of this sort of deviation from the old traditional drinking patterns going on, and I assume that it is allowable,” he said. “It is the same story with putting a cover charge on a bar — you can do it only if it is not the onlv bar in that hotel or tavern.”

The Imperial Hotel was granted permission yesterday by the Licensing Committee to close its auhlic bar until March 3, for renovations.