Bottoms up! The Alex wins CAMRA’ s Pub of the Year title

‘GOOD CONVERSATION’: The Alex in Hessle Road

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

The owner and landlord of The Alexandra Hotel in Hessle Road will be toasting their success on Sunday after being crowned Hull Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).

Owner Mark Walker and landlord Mike Vary will be presented with the award for Hull Pub of the Year 2025 at 4.30pm.

Another presentation will be made to Esther Rowan, manager of the Station Inn in Beverley Road, at 7.15pm on Thursday, April 2, after it was named runner-up.

Andy Currie, Hull and East Yorkshire branch chair of CAMRA, said: “Mark and Mike at the Alex, and Esther at the Station, run pubs that look great from the outside and have fantastic interiors and a warm welcome inside. Both pubs also sell a great range of ales, ciders and perries at very reasonable prices.”

The Alexandra Hotel, situated at 69 Hessle Road, has this entry in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2026: “Known as The Alex, new ownership in 2019 transformed this Grade II-listed Victorian pub into a real ale gem with up to seven cask ales, including at least one dark beer and several real ciders.

RUNNER-UP: The Station Inn, Beverley Road. Picture credit: Will Larter

“Good conversation features highly along with motorsport-themed memorabilia. There is a fine back bar and terracotta tiling outside.”

The same guide describes the Station as a “mid-Victorian roadside pub originally built to serve the Stepney station on the Hull to Hornsea/Withernsea railway line. It has a 1920s mock-Tudor façade and has recently been extensively restored to a high standard.

“There are real fires in both bars, with the back bar used for meetings, regular singarounds and live music. Up to six real ales and two real ciders are available. A pub loyalty card is available”.

The other finalists were the Hop & Vine in Albion Street, the Scale & Feather in Scale Lane, and the St John’s Hotel in Queens Road. To be eligible for the competition the licensee had to be present since April 1, 2025.

A panel of judges visited each finalist and scored them against strict criteria: quality and variety of real ale and cider/perry, community focus, accessibility, alignment with CAMRA’s principles, style/decor, service and welcome, and value for money.

The Hugh Fitz-Baldric in Hallgate, Cottingham, was named County Pub Of The Year 2025 – a new title replacing two previous honours for town and village pubs of the year. The Dog & Duck in Ladygate, Beverley, was runner-up.