The Ship Room

Cheap sudz
Bring cash
Take it for what it is

Not for every Yelper - you're not in the safest haven, so be aware.  If you look sharp and act right, this is a solid dive with DIRT CHEAP SUDZ.  Beyond that, there's pool and some very distinct atmosphere.  You're here for the standard taps at rock bottom prices, ya heard?  Don't come calling for craft or cocktails (well, maybe a rum & Coke).  Have dollar bills ready, maybe deal some cards if you keep it on the level, rack 'em in the billiard area next room over, and peep the ship room itself in the back.  (It was empty and dark when I visited, but I walked around anyway - felt like I wasn't alone, so bonus points for that creepy Amityville Horror feel.)

I don't claim to know legit, hardcore Worcester, but this seemed like a small slice of it at the base of Green Street.  See pics for ambience and decide accordingly if this is your cup of 'Gansett.  (If you can imagine the 2010 edges of Washington DC's H Street district, you're in the ballpark.).  *FYI: Four police cruisers passed by me semi-urgently at my Lamartine@Harding parking spot even as I drafted this review.

But the bar?  I got a kick out of it.

Oh this place! It's a microcosm of Worcester. If it exists in Worcester, good and bad, it exists in the Hotel Vernon (Don't know why the Yelp entry is "the Ship Room", it's the Vernon.) All of the fantastic legends are true. Was this once Babe Ruth's favorite bar? Yes! Did Raymond Burr used to drink here? Yes!

But the best part of the Vernon is that it IS Worcester. Those who live here, say they love Worcester, and then hate the Vernon are fooling themselves into a belief that the city is something it's not. It's dirty, and it smells bad, but you can have one hell of a time on short money and you can have it with punks, hipsters, crackheads, blue collar workers, city employees, politicians, poets, roller derby girls, and artists. As I said this place IS Worcester, and we love it for it.

Of all the wonderful dive bars in the entire world, the Hotel Vernon (aka Ship Room) is by far the best! It is just a weird and fascinating place. I looked down the bar there and seen people ranging from college hotties to yuppies to homeless people to regular folks to Doozers and back again. They got dollar drafts and free peanuts but that pales to the history and the dirt. Yup, I said dirt. The place is filthy. I think the last time they cleaned it was for the grand reopening after the end of Prohibition. But, somehow in the weirdest of ways this adds to the character of the place. I mean, where else are you asked to throw peanut shells on the floor?

So, its got its history. Babe Ruth used to drink there on his frequent stops to Worcester. There is an old speakeasy in the basement (so I'm told. I've never seen personally). The piece de resistance is the Ship Room- or Yacht Club- which looks like the insides of an olde-timey ship. Bands and other preforms often play there for no cover. Its great atmosphere for a low cost.

The only negatives it has is the occasional bartenders. Some bartenders I've had there are very cool. Others are rude jackasses.

Just don't go in there with an ego about yourself because that just means you're a pretentious douche.