Inside Mermaid Terrace at Harbour Hotel Southampton

The Mermaid Terrace - a collaboration with Mermaid Gin - opened at the five-star Harbour Hotel’s HarBAR on 6th with an exclusive launch party earlier in June.

It took six weeks to convert the previously under-utilised space on the roof into a terrace with a bar, pizza oven and sweeping views of the marina and even as far as the Isle of Wight.

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Aaron Goodfellow, general manager of HarBAR on 6th, said that the space allowed his team a “blank canvas” to project their ideas.

Aaron Goodfellow, Oliver Johnson and Lukas Bulika (Image: NQ)

“We are trying to set the standard for al-fresco dining in Southampton,” he told the Echo.

“We know Southampton is very limited for outside terraces. We have tried to push the bar and say this is the place to be.”

The partnership with the Isle of Wight-based gin distillery has also been incorporated in the terrace’s design, according to Aaron.

Among those who will be serving the brand new cocktail menu is Lukas Bulika, bars manager.

He thinks the new terrace is “great”, and added: “We really pushed it this year.

“The terrace for the last year was really neglected. It was mainly inside.

“We are massively happy with the outcome.”

The terrace is open from midday until 11pm from Sunday to Thursday and midday until midnight on Friday and Saturday. It will serve a variety of pizzas and burgers alongside the new cocktail menu, and there will be a live DJ playing every weekend.

The views from the terrace feature the Ocean Village marina, Royal Victoria Country Park and, in the distance, the Isle of Wight. (Image: NQ)

The opening of the terrace has inspired a brand new cocktail menu featuring creations made with Mermaid Gin, linked to summer.

They include the ‘Another Man’s Rhubarb’ – made with produce from the smallholding of Michael French, who has been DJing at HarBAR every weekend since the £25 million hotel first opened in 2017.

“Because I DJ here Aaron asked me about produce,” he said. “This was developed for the bar menu for the summer.”

The Harbour Hotel, which boasts a super-yacht-inspired-design, features two restaurants, a cinema, a spa, an events space for weddings, functions or events, and an outdoor terrace with a fire pit and wood-fired oven.