1-15 St Peters Road,
Bournemouth,
BH1 2JZ
(01202) 318 693
The ViewBournemouth Review
Once a trendy and distinctive venue, Bliss is now just another late night bar that attracts more than its fair share of stag and hen parties.
The Venue
Bliss is situated in the centre of late night Bournemouth and is popular with tourists and younger crowds. Split into two floors, and with large bars on both levels of the venue, it has a huge amount of space but can still get very crowded on Friday and Saturday nights.
Chrome trimmings, plush furniture and violet lighting give Bliss a very upmarket feel, but the ambience this creates is ruined a little when you receive your drink in a plastic, water-stained glass.
Upstairs you’ll find seating areas of velvet-covered bar stools and booths, with a small dancefloor that’s generally used for socialising instead of dancing. A huge spiral staircase leads you down to the main dancefloor, which turns into a sea of people on busy nights.
The People
Young, trendy barstaff appear to enjoy their jobs but service can be slow at weekends, and don’t be surprised if they get your order wrong. There are plenty of doormen both inside and out, so it’s one of the safer bars to visit in the town centre.
The clientele is mainly younger crowds and stag and hen parties. It's in the centre of the ‘tourist’ side of town, and locals tend to avoid these busy bars unless they’re on a particularly lively night out.
The Music
There are various themes on different days of the week such as Student Nights on Tuesday – which is generally a bit cheesier – but on most nights you’ll find chart and commercial dance music on the upstairs floor, and urban and RnB on the lower floor. There’s a good mix of music, and their DJs draw a particularly large crowd of regulars downstairs for the urban tunes.
The Drink
There’s a good range of spirits and beers, as you’d expect to find in any busy bar, but the prices vary from cheap to excessive, depending on which night you visit. You can pick up a glass of wine for £2 on Wednesdays, but the same drink will cost you around £3.40 on a Saturday.
Various offers run throughout the week, such as all drinks for £1.50 on Tuesdays and vodka and mixer for 99p on Wednesdays (a vodka and mixer will cost you around £3.90 on a Saturday). Beers such as Stella, Carlsberg and Becks will cost as little as £1.60 - £2.00 for a bottle or a pint during the week, and around £3.60 at weekends.
The Last Word
It might not be the most original of bars, but no trip to Bournemouth would be complete without a visit to one of the most popular venues in town. Bliss is central, it’s open late and it has good music. There’s no entry charge, unlike most late night venues, so you won’t lose anything if give it a try.
Bliss has been reviewed by 3 users