So last Monday I cruised down to Congress to check out the downtown scene. First up, Club Congress.

After ordering a scotch in Hotel Congress' festive southwestern lobby bar, I sat down on a long green couch to wait for some friends to arrive.

Hotel Congress draws a more diverse scene than many of the so-called college scene. And its eclecticism is genuinely pleasing if you are the type not to get bummed that the fellow patrons aren't sporting Prada bags or Diesel jeans, although there are some of them too. We can't rule out everyone.

The lobby's classical dŽcor evokes something out of a bygone era where formality was the word of the day. In fact, I got the feeling, sitting there with highball in hand, that I was right out of a Bond movie.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that if you don't go button-down you won't be admitted, but the hotel bar had that kind of feel.

And it was with good reason that I felt this way about the bar.

Hotel Congress is far more than a place to come and drink, my friends. It is also a Tucson landmark. Built in 1919, Hotel Congress catered predominantly to the emerging cattle and railroad industries ripping through Tucson at the turn of the century. Later, in the roaring twenties, the hotel saw as visitors wealthy investors and high-rollers from the east coast as well as some more notorious guests like John Dillinger, who was actually brought to justice during a fire at the hotel in 1934.

Back to present time, my friends eventually arrived; we passed through the doors of the Tap Room and Club Congress itself. These bars, a maze of corridors, bars and dance floors make the hotel a unique environment in which to get loaded.

With three bars, plentiful seating and a spacious dance floor (80s night on Mondays) situated for bands and DJs, there are plenty of opportunities to mingle with the refreshingly diverse crowd.

As for libations, I stuck to scotch until I found that Hotel Congress dispensed my Achilles heel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, at a buck fifty a can. Apart from my rather specific drink preferences, some buddies ordered up tropical mixed drinks as well as highballs served by the friendly staff at reasonable prices.

So, Hotel Congress is a definite thumbs-up.

What I love about Hotel Congress: It's big and it has a remarkably diverse crowd.

What I don't so much love about Hotel Congress: If cans of PBR were 50 cents cheaper, there wouldn't be anything I didn't like.