Steam Bar

Neither a nice hotel bar nor a proper English pub. Décor resembles a Blake Edwards interpretation of a fraternity house basement. Try your luck elsewhere.

If you need somewhere for a quiet drink and a sit down away from Paddington station but not too far then I highly recommend here.
We ended up here as I was meeting a friend at Paddington who had a few hours to kill. After using the Unilocal to find somewhere this place came up as the nearest.
It’s inside the Hilton and I’m not normally one for hitting hotel bars unless I’m staying there, but actually i can see the benefits. (I kinda felt like I was on holiday, hurray!)
The bar was wonderfully quiet; as in there was a low enough level of ambient noise that I could actually have a conversation with my friend. Shock, horror. The beer on tap wasn’t a particularly stunning selection, and tbf, neither was the bottled selection, but I had some Tiger, so it wasn’t all bad.
The bartender was very efficient and brought our drinks over and was attentive at making sure we were never without. There were also bar snacks; a weird mix of rice snacks, bombay mix and cheeselets. interesting!
We ordered the pizza which although took a long time to come was actually one of the nicest pizzas I had in ages!
So yeah, would probably go again in the same situation!

This bar, although convenient in it’s location next to the train station, is not quite what I had imagined as it could use a bit of a revamp and redesign.
The drinks were fairly priced, but there are really only very small tables for couples (and space for their baggage). It was quite quiet for a Friday, as we were the only people there, which I can imagine as it is part of a hotel and most people staying might venture into a local pub/​bar instead.

Have to say, Paddington is one area that is lacking in good bars & pubs. The pubs in the area are A-​OK, nothing special, typical oldish English boozers.
There are not many places to have a nice cocktail, but this bar, based in the Hilton, is actually ok. It looks nice, has nice loungy seats and serves free nibbles with the drinks!
Good range of cocktails etc. Only thing, it is a bit pricey, but other than the price it’s quite nice!

Average for a hotel bar — I remember when this hotel first opened the Steam bar was quite nice. It still has wooden floors and the same basic layout with some raised booths, but the décor has changed. Gone are the black and white images from the great age of train travel on the walls, replaced with a slightly cheap looking wood-​veneer bar and olive and raspberry padded walls. Really. I guess it could also have been a bit odd as my companion and I were the only ones in there at rush hour. Bonus — they do happy hour 2-​for-​1 from 5pm — 7pm when wines are from £5.00 per glass and cocktails are £7.00. Fine to meet briefly but I wouldn’t hang around, not enough atmosphere.

The Steam Bar is located in the Hilton hotel in Paddington. Every Friday and Saturday nights, this bar welcomes party people who like dancing to R’n’B, Hip-​Hop, Caribbean and African rhythms. The bar is busier on Friday. It’s very modern and airy, chic but not snobby…
I recommend this bar to all those who wants to have a goog time in a cosy place.