Journal · Bars · Europe
Europe's great hotel bars: where to have a drink with history
The hotel bar is where the cocktail grew up. From the Savoy's American Bar to Bar Hemingway at the Ritz, these are the rooms that still set the standard.
Why the hotel bar matters
Before the cocktail bar became a destination in itself, the grand hotels were where travellers learned to drink well. Bartenders such as Harry Craddock at the Savoy wrote the recipes the rest of the world copied, and the rooms they worked in have kept their manners: table service, proper glassware, and a bartender who remembers your order.
The bars
- Bar Hemingway · Paris
A small, wood-panelled bar inside the Ritz, named after its most famous regular. - Connaught Bar · London
Perhaps the most celebrated hotel bar in the world, famous for its martini trolley. - American Bar at The Savoy · London
One of London's oldest cocktail bars, where Harry Craddock wrote The Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. - Dukes Bar · London
A small St James's bar famous for its martinis, mixed at the table from a trolley. - Scarfes Bar · London
A clubby bar at the Rosewood London with caricatures by Gerald Scarfe on the walls and live music at night. - Le Bar Américain · Monaco
The bar of the Hôtel de Paris, with live jazz in the evenings and the Casino across the square. - Stravinskij Bar · Rome
The bar of the Hotel de Russie, opening onto the terraced secret garden: Rome's classic aperitivo address. - King Cole Bar · New York
The St. - Bemelmans Bar · New York
The Carlyle's bar, its walls painted by Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline books, with live piano most evenings. - Virtù · Tokyo
An Art Deco hotel bar high above Otemachi. - Argo · Hong Kong
The bar of the Four Seasons, built around ingredients at risk from climate change. - BKK Social Club · Bangkok
The bar of the Four Seasons on the river, inspired by Buenos Aires. - Long Bar · Singapore
The bar at Raffles where the Singapore Sling was created, still famous for the peanut shells on the floor. - Kronenhalle Bar · Zurich
The wood-panelled bar beside the Kronenhalle restaurant, whose walls carry works by Picasso, Chagall and Miró. - Loos American Bar · Vienna
A tiny jewel box of onyx, marble and mahogany designed by Adolf Loos in 1908, its mirrors making the room seem endless. - SCOTCH at The Balmoral · Edinburgh
The Balmoral's whisky bar, with hundreds of Scotch whiskies and whisky ambassadors to guide you through them.
How to behave at the bar
- Arrive early. The great hotel bars are small and fill quickly after nine.
- Dress for the room. A jacket is never wrong.
- Ask for the house classic: the martini at Dukes, the trolley at the Connaught, the Sidecar at the Ritz.
- Leave the phone in your pocket. Many of these bars discourage photographs.
