The Imperial

Exeter. Located near the Exeter St. Davids railway station, this is widely regarded as one of Britain's grandest Wetherspoon pubs. It was built in 1810 as a private mansion named Elmfield House. During the mid-19th century the legendary Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel used it as his base of operations while surveying and overseeing the construction of the Great Western Railway (don't get me started!) though Devon. In 1923 the property was converted and opened to the public as the 29 room Imperial Hotel. It quickly established itself as the city's premier upmarket hotel, hosting lavish dinner dances, wool sales, and regional motor rallies. Famous guests included The Beatles, Fred Astaire, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, and members of the Royal Family. A darker footnote in its history occurred in the late 1970s, when it became a crime scene after a woman's body was discovered hidden in the undergrowth. The property was purchased by JD Wetherspoon in 1994.

The interior is truly grand, with several very large rooms surrounding the front and rear bars. The ballroom was salvaged and imported from Haldon House in Dunchideock, which was heavily modeled on the architecture of Buckingham Palace. And then there is the spectacular wrought-iron, barrel-vaulted Orangery. Originally built as a heated palm house and designed by Brunel at Streatham Hall (now Reed Hall at the University of Exeter), it was painstakingly moved to the Imperial site at the turn of the 20th century. As beautiful as the interior is, my favorite part of the pub is the massive beer garden. I was delighted to see they had Haymaker Pale Ale from Hook Norton Brewery, another one of my favorites. I grabbed a pint and headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and the joyous banter of the students from the university.