There are not many pubs like the Palace Hotel in Old Market, or The Palace to give its latest incarnation its proper name. First of all there is the outside, built in 1869 to attract travellers from a railway station about 100 yards away in Midland Road, opened within just a few months of the Palace opening. It didn’t remain as a passenger station for very long but became a goods depot.

Then there is the inside, which for the unwary has a sloping floor, thought to have been installed in order to help hotel porters with trollies.

There are gold columns, gold cornices, even a gold throne on the stage area in one corner, alongside red and gold curtains, a red carpet, red ceiling, and walls in red patterned wallpaper.

Look up and there is a chandelier hanging from the high ceiling alongside no fewer than two dozen glitter balls.

The Palace reopened at the end of last year, and is not a pub for the faint-hearted. On the Sunday evening when I visited, the stereo was turned up full volume with some pop classics from Britney and Rihanna, the glitter balls doing their job.

Now a gay venue, there are Singalong Saturdays and Gameshow Saturdays, while a sign behind the bar warns: “Please do not feed the drag queen. Unless it’s vodka.”

The building in which The Palace takes up the sloping ground floor has planning permission for six flats. Fleurets are currently advertising it for sale at £400,000, but if it is sold thankfully the pub will not be affected.

The Palace, 1-2 West Street, Old Market, Bristol, BS2 0DF