Club night of the year nomination: Home sweet Kelsey’s

As the year draws to a close, we begin ranking the best and worst nights out Leamington, Coventry, Birmingham and Warwick Campus have to offer. Beginning with a Leamington favourite, Megan Bower makes a case for Kelsey’s.

Becoming a regular at Kelsey’s will be the best and worst thing you ever do as a student.

Kelsey’s is the student paradise of Leam where just one drink, means a jug and the endearing shabbiness and dim lighting makes everyone that bit more beautiful.

In her happy place

It’s a perfected version of a night out, with none of the disadvantages of a club: you do not have to dance, queue or pay entry. Plus it has all the advantages: epic levels of intoxication and the glory stories that go hand in hand with it.

Affectionately known as a shit hole, Kelsey’s is probably the most repulsive place you will ever eagerly attend, but you love it and there’s a reason for it.

Kelsey’s sponsors Warwick’s Mixed Netball team, who are great fans of the drinking establishment. Nick Fraser, netballer, drinker and third year Engineering student offered us a glowing commendation: “It’s the only place you can get ruined without having to go to a club.”

Then there’s the Eliminator – that jug of orange juice based poison that promises to turn any night into one you want to remember but will probably forget. It’s all part and parcel of the addictive charm.

Expect to find a vast array of characters as colourful as the cocktails. Local legend Flex the Barber is bound to make an appearance. If you don’t like clubbing, or prefer to make everyone throw up that bit quicker by getting off on the sofas, Kelsey’s is the dream.

But if you fancy a dance, and don’t want to cough up the entry for a club, get on top of the pool tables – everyone does.

It is the ultimate dream for the sloppy drunk: jugs full of colourful, confusingly sweet, alcoholic potions and a suspension of judgement.

Home Sweet Kelsey’s: where no one has escaped being splashed with slightly corrosive Eliminator, no one is going to laugh at you for slurring or sobbing about how much you embarrassed yourself last Friday night.

Look out for the ‘Ultimate Leamington Night Out’ competition, upcoming in Week 9.