For real though, which Leeds club has the best smoking area?

Everyone knows going to the smoking area is the highlight of a night out in Leeds. Friendships are formed in smoking areas, okay you’ll never see that drunken stranger again, but this unifying force is what we need in this uncertain world.

Canal Mills

Ah, the Canal Mills smoking area. It's spacious, it's easy to locate, and it's got a fucking veranda – how many clubs in Leeds can boast the latter? It's the perfect place to take a break from the sixty-girl strong toilet queue, or to specify in response to those inevitable "where you at xx" texts that arrive through the night. From your first visit during freshers to now, this is a smoking area that has never let you down.

The Faversham

So no, you can't take drinks outside at The Fav, and yes, you do risk certain death attempting to sneak down the manic corridor that leads to it, but this is still a banging smoking area in its own right. You're guaranteed to find at least half a dozen long-lost mates hanging about, for one thing, and it's also just all-round a good respite from the chaos of Donuts; you can surely manage downing your double for access.

Beaver Works

There's something truly iconic about the smoking area of Beaver Works. It's seen everything from a bonfire to bumper cars, and if you've never spent the entirety of a £25 night out chatting absolute shit to strangers on the picnic benches, you haven't lived. At five AM, when you come stumbling up from the basement wide-eyed and thoroughly confused at the sight of the rising sun, this smoking area greets you like an old friend, alongside plenty of staff asking you to kindly fuck off home.

Church

If you can find it, and you don't trip, fall, and die on your way downstairs, the Church smoking area is a bloody good time. Whose idea even was it to put hanging chairs in a smoking area!? Genius, pure genius. There isn't a more Instagram-worthy outside in all of Leeds, I'm calling it. Plus, they leave all the crap outside even during the daytime, so if you just need a break during a slog in Laidlaw, it's right there waiting for you. Fabulous.

Mint Warehouse

My memories of the Mint Warehouse smoking area are hazy at best, but I know in my heart of hearts that it's a good one. There's something about the seamless transition from club to smoking area, the benches, the ambience. It isn't difficult to find, but it isn't easy to leave. Amongst the madness that is a D&B night at Mint, there's a reprieve waiting for you outside. 10/10 would smoke in again.

Fruity

The Fruity smoking area is the savior of the night. It is the only way to escape the hot sweaty mess of Stylus. Where else will you see a girl dressed as an octopus crying about a bitchy friend with a random boy dressed a Spice Girl trying to comfort her?

That’s the thing with the Fruity smoking area, it brings people together.

So there you have it, the smoking area heroes of Leeds. Yet despite all these options, despite their various strengths and flaws, there can be only one winner. It's up to you, the loyal Leeds public, to make this bold decision.

Vote below, you know you want to.

Photo Credit: Faversham- Donuts Facebook Page, Mint Warehouse- Mint Mondays Facebook Page.