Set in the grounds of the Channel View Hotel on Marian Road in Calabar, Mayfair lounge’s brightly lit frontage could have been lifted straight from an off-strip Las Vegas club. It is easy to spot as soon as the sun goes down, competing with the even more extravagant lighting displays of near neighbours Jaspers and Pinnacle Bar.
Inside, the layout is simple; a single dance floor with a bar running down one side, with a raised DJ booth taking prominence in the centre of the rear mirrored wall. It’s a trendy spot by Calabar standards, attracting young local movers and shakers eager to see and be seen out on the tiles.
Nightlife starts late here — on my visit at around 10pm on a Sunday night the bar was frequented only by bar staff and the DJ’s entourage. They were friendly and good fun, but theirs was an air of waiting, as if the hoped for crowds may not materialise. But I may be doing it a disservice — the Marian Road strip is the closest Calabar has to a bustling nightlife, and if gangs of revellers are to roam the streets after dark this is where they do it, certainly in the peak season of the Calabar Festival.
It is an atmosphere quite unlike Buddy’s or Monic Pointe, where there is an immediacy and hustle that comes with the uncertainty and humour of the busy street bars.
Expert Review
Set in the grounds of the Channel View Hotel on Marian Road in Calabar, Mayfair lounge's brightly lit frontage could...
Set in the grounds of the Channel View Hotel on Marian Road in Calabar, Mayfair lounge’s brightly lit frontage could have been lifted straight from an off-strip Las Vegas club. It is easy to spot as soon as the sun goes down, competing with the even more extravagant lighting displays of near neighbours Jaspers and Pinnacle Bar.
Inside, the layout is simple; a single dance floor with a bar running down one side, with a raised DJ booth taking prominence in the centre of the rear mirrored wall. It’s a trendy spot by Calabar standards, attracting young local movers and shakers eager to see and be seen out on the tiles.
Nightlife starts late here — on my visit at around 10pm on a Sunday night the bar was frequented only by bar staff and the DJ’s entourage. They were friendly and good fun, but theirs was an air of waiting, as if the hoped for crowds may not materialise. But I may be doing it a disservice — the Marian Road strip is the closest Calabar has to a bustling nightlife, and if gangs of revellers are to roam the streets after dark this is where they do it, certainly in the peak season of the Calabar Festival.
It is an atmosphere quite unlike Buddy’s or Monic Pointe, where there is an immediacy and hustle that comes with the uncertainty and humour of the busy street bars.