Bars at the Copthorne Effingham Hotel Gatwick

A sunny beach bar right in the lobby

The Gatwick Copthorne Effingham boasts two excellent bars and an extensive wine cellar. The lounge bar is on the ground floor, just off the circular central lobby, while on the floor below, near the pool and leisure centre, is the Sports Bar, a lively pub. Both bars are open until late - often later than their stated closing time - so even if you're busy with all the golf, swimming and fine dining, you'll still have plenty of time for the tipple of your choice. Food from the room service menu, which includes hot dishes, sandwiches and snacks, is also available in both bars all the time that they're open.

Lounge bar

Here you can relax in some very comfortable armchairs and order everything from a bottle of Moet and Chandon to a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

For a little aperitif before dinner, we tried what the bar menu informed us was the world’s favourite cocktail, a mojito. If you’ve never had the pleasure, it’s made up from white rum, lime juice, sugar, soda water and mint. And very fine it was too – a delicious appetiser for £5.95, and hard to limit to just the one.

Don’t expect a Manhattan-style cocktail bar here, however - this is comfy and traditional. Most guests seemed to be enjoying wine, lager or coffees and there were some interesting-looking beers from China, Thailand, India and Mexico.

Sports bar

Downstairs in the Sports bar, draught beers and lagers, Becks, Flowers and IPA are available, as well as cider on draught.

There’s also a pool table and a number of TV screens for watching sports, including a massive screen that takes up most of the wall opposite the bar. If there was a Premier League football match on, this would be the perfect place to cheer on your team. There’s a clubroom feel to the wooden-clad room, and a livelier atmosphere in the evening than in the cosy lounge bar upstairs.