The quiet floor, and the rules of working from a pub

The first floor is a room with tables, chairs, plugs and wifi, above a pub. That is genuinely all it is, and we would rather describe it plainly than dress it up as something with a membership tier.

Here is everything you might want to know before you carry a laptop up the stairs.

The practical answers

Is there wifi? Yes, free, throughout the building. It is a business line sized on the assumption that a dozen people will be on video calls at once, because they will be.

Are there plugs? At every table on the first floor, and at about half the tables downstairs. You should not have to hunt for one or sit on the floor next to a skirting board.

Do I need to book? No. There is nothing to book. There is no day pass, no membership, no minimum spend and no app.

Can I sit here for three hours with one coffee? Yes. This keeps being asked and the answer keeps being yes. Pubs have let people do this for four hundred years.

When is it busiest? Between about 12.30pm and 2pm, when the sandwich orders peak. Before eleven and after three it is usually calm. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are the quietest of the week.

Can I take calls? Short ones, anywhere. For a long call, the far end by the window is where people tend to go. Headphones on, speaker off — the room polices itself pretty well.

The one rule

There is exactly one, and it is not about spending money.

If the room is full and you have finished, give the table up. — The only rule on the first floor

That is it. On a wet Tuesday in February nobody is going to ask you to move. At half twelve on a Thursday, when three people are standing with trays, notice.

What happens at five

The first floor stays open, but the room changes. The lamps go on, people start arriving for a drink, and by half six it is not a working room any more.

If you are deep in something at five, nobody will move you on. But you will probably want to move downstairs, or shut the laptop and order a pint. Most people do the second one.