The Amber Rooms is a fairly modern Lloyds No. 1, built in 2001 along with the nearby The Rushes shopping centre. It occupies the site formerly used by Loughboroughs electricity works, Brush Electrical Engineering Co., which quite interestingly was hit in WWI by bombs dropped from a zeppelin. The pub’s name comes from the Greek root of the word electricity (elektron) which means ‘amber’.
The building is a modern one, with much of its frontage clad in metal and only a small amount of brick on display. It has a somewhat industrial feel from the exterior, and the upstairs balcony being visible from the front is a nice touch to make the pub more inviting. Being reasonably modern, it lacks the traditional feel of many older Spoons, and from any angle other than the front it does appear more like a basic commercial unit than a pub.
Inside the pub is fairly large, spread across two floors, and with a dense table layout downstairs as you might expect from a Wetherspoon in a student area. A raised seating area to the rear of the pub feels a little more secluded for a more family-friendly experience.
Upstairs is a second bar, with a mezzanine which wraps around looking down onto the ground floor. Tables are spaced out more comfortably up here and there’s patio doors opening out onto a balcony, although this area was off limits on our December visit.
To the rear is a small, partially-covered beer garden with only a few tables but a very welcoming feel thanks to its border of plants. It’s covered by the walkway to the nearby The Rushes shopping centre, and it backs onto the entrance to its car park, but it still manages to maintain a secluded atmosphere.
The toilets have a wonderful grey stone theme, consistent across the floor and wall tiles and with a continuation of the industrial feel through metal dividers and basin columns.
With that said, this is perhaps one of the few examples where the men’s toilets are nicer than the women’s. The women’s have a sort of horror film hotel vibe with a corridor leading to old oak cubicle doors, and interestingly some of the toilets are raised, which was fairly described as ‘a bit bloody dangerous’.
Ratings (out of 5)
We both rate the pub based on three criteria; the building, the interior and the toilets. These scores are averaged out to give the pub its overall rating. You can read more about the rating system here.
Building: 2.0 & 2.5
Interior: 3.0 & 2.5
Toilets: 3.0 & 2.0
Wetho Wanderers 