lead
With Jay and Kanye namedropping multiple luxury hotels over the course of their Watch the Throne record, it's safe to say that everyone not already on board with hotel bars will now be clamoring to drink at one. They make great sense. Getting a drink in a place where maybe you'll be crashing later—no brainer. Also, there's the suggestion of sex. You buy a lady a drink with the knowledge that there is floor after floor of beds right above the both of you.
But you need to know where to go. Please, no applause—here are the 50 Best Hotel Bars in the U.S.
V Bar
Living Room Times Square
Blues Bar
Clyde Common
Bambara
46. Bambara at Hotel Marlowe
CITY: Cambridge, Mass.
ADDRESS: 25 Edwin H Land Blvd.
WEBSITE: hotelmarlowe.com
Put wood down, put wood up; you're walking on wooden floors and wood is crawling up the walls at Bambara. This is a power-lunch, sharp suit, and aggressive tie spot that exudes manfulness. At night, sipping a house cocktail at the bar over a small plate of salmon cakes, the gents exude a well-moneyed swagger. If you're looking for class, you've found it. In spades.
Alaskan Hotel
Noir
Pool Bar
Cameo
Whiskey Blue
Clarendon
40. The Bar at the Clarendon Hotel
CITY: Phoenix
ADDRESS: 401 West Clarendon Ave.
WEBSITE: theclarendon.net
If you're trying to experience a painted Phoenix sunset, the kind where the horizon seems to melt, you can do no better than the rooftop bar at the Clarendon. We appreciate how well the Clarendon downplays their image; they aren't a resort. This is a pull-up-in-front-and-pop-the-top-on-a-beer-tab-before-your-engine-stops-ticking sort of spot. You'll be down with your first one by the time you hit the roof, where you'll find a full-on party in effect. Think the pool scene in Boogie Nights. It might get a little sleazy, the empties might accumulate around chair legs, and the outfits might contain less and less fabric as the evening escalates. But that's what you want. So many hotel bars play the class card. If the Clarendon was even dealt that card, they tossed it to fill their hand with a couple of Jacks and pictures of ladies in lingerie.
Club Bar at Peninsula
39. The Club Bar at the Peninsula Hotel
CITY: Los Angeles
ADDRESS: 9882 South Santa Monica Blvd.
WEBSITE: peninsula.com
L.A. Confidential-style without all the brutal murders and dead hookers, that's the vibe at the Peninsula's Club bar. They bill themselves as catering to conneisuers, and point to their extensive wine and single malt scotch list as evidence. We're not going to disagree. This is the sort of place where the waitresses and bartenders will know your name after only a couple of visits. The service is prompt, full of care. As if you couldn't have guess that from the white-jacketed dude pouring your drinks.
Ocho
38. Ocho Lounge at the Hotel Havana
CITY: San Antonio, Texas
ADDRESS: 1015 Navarro St.
WEBSITE: havanasanantonio.com
San Antonio's famous Riverwalk can get touristy: waddling couples with circling kids and lots of camera equpiment. Ocho will make you forget all about that. Soft candlelight swims over the velvet couches and antique leather club chairs in this basement lounge. The cocktails lean heavily on tequila, but not the sort of firewater that blacks out college students and leads to awkward mornings. This is grown man business. Of course, that can still include the night blurring into the morning. But given how swank this gets, you can dispel the awkwardness. Everyone here is a pro.
Driftwood
Submercer
Off The Record
Belmont
Bemelmans
Hawaii St. Regis
32. The Bar at the St. Regis Princeville
CITY: Kauai, Hawaii
ADDRESS: 5520 Ka Haku Rd.
WEBSITE: stregisprinceville.com
Sunsets in Hawaii don't just mark the end of the day. The St. Regis knows this, which is why everyday at 6:30 p.m. they hold a champagne toast, so that the guests can congratulate them for being at such a nice-ass bar in a uniquely beautiful part of the world while the sun dips into the ocean. There's beauty, and then there's beauty while you're hoisting bubbly in a luxury hotel. This is the closest regular folks (and we're using that term loosely) can come to watching the throne.
Top of the Standard
Gaby
30. Gaby Bar at Hotel Sofitel New York
CITY: New York City
ADDRESS: 44 West 45th St.
WEBSITE: sofitel.com
The high ceilings and dark palette of Gaby Bar, located in NYC's Theater District, recall the old, mythic New York. If that city never really existed outside of novels and legends, it wouldn't matter, because you can live it here, enveloped in deep mahogany wood and booze. Drink a "Hemingway," whiskey cocktail with clove syrup, to tap into the mood. Then really get on your Hemingway under the low lights by bellowing at some of the ladies. Ernest was a beast.
Thom Bar
Drink Shop
Redwood Room
Spare Room
Wall Bar
25. Wall at the W South Beach
CITY: Miami
ADDRESS: 2201 Collins Ave.
WEBSITE: wallmiami.com
One of the more exclusive Miami spots, Wall is a 3,500-square-foot bar and lounge built for big sounds and beautiful people. Copper, gold, and green dominate the color scheme, bringing to mind all sorts of wealth. Wall regularly hosts big name DJs that attract 20-somethings looking to reconnect with the hard-partying days of college. People get drunk. Things get live. Untuck your button down to fit in and ask the prettiest girl winding on the floor to dance. It's hard to miss when you're at South Beach. Just don't let the glitz blind you.
Starlite Lounge
24. Starlite Lounge at Riviera Resort & Spa
CITY: Palm Springs, Calif.
ADDRESS: 1600 North Indian Canyon Dr.
WEBSITE: www.psriviera.com
Live music and a billiards table that is extravagant to an ignorant degree are the most recognizable features of the Starlite. In the style of many a hipster bar, the 30 -foot video wall behind the bar silently screens classics that act like moving paintings, pushing your classy cocktail experience to NASA-type heights. The color palette draws on pinks and reds, the colors that make you feel cozy, wrapped up. It's the kind of scene that makes you forget money is sometimes best kept in your pocket. You'll be all like, "Nah, I think this green really brings out the rose accents along the ceiling trim." And you'll toss down more.
Tabu Bar
23. Tabú Ultra Lounge at the MGM Grand
CITY: Las Vegas
ADDRESS: 3799 South Las Vegas Blvd.
WEBSITE: mgmgrand.com
The servers are models. The Grand Marnier is a hundred years old. The lounge has mutliple floors. The DJ's sound system has won multiple awards. The bar—excuse us, lounge—is in Vegas. No one will stop beautiful women from dancing on the tables in 5-inch heels. No one will keep you from having fun. Convinced yet?
Living Room Chicago
Alibi's
Atlanta St. Regis
20. The St. Regis Bar at the St. Regis Atlanta
CITY: Atlanta
ADDRESS: 88 West Paces Ferry Rd.
WEBSITE: starwoodhotels.com
Pay attention, bourbon lovers: In 2010, the St. Regis partnered with Woodford Reserve, one of the finest distilleries in America, to create a custom bourbon that has the expected excellence of Woodford with extra hints of mint and honeysuckle. For that alone, the St. Regis makes our list.
But there's more, too. This place looks fucking great. The hotel itself is a massive feature on Atlanta's skyline, and the bar boasts an enormous mural of phoenix, resplendant in red and yellow feathers. They describe their dress code as "casual sophistication," which we've translated as "step your game up." But make it look effortless. Start planning your night of drinking now.
Hudson
Thoroughbred Club
Lewers
Breslin
Veranda Bar
Rebar
Club Congress
Rose & Jade Bar
Carousel
Red Square
Bleau Bar
King Cole
Jane Ballroom
Six Seven Bar
Top of the Mark Bar
POV Bar
Shadow Bar
Polo Bar
2. The Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel
Rose Bar
1. Rose Bar at the Delano South Beach
CITY: Miami
ADDRESS: 1685 Collins Ave.
WEBSITE: delano-hotel.com
Rumor (or rap lyrics) has it that Pusha T had a very close relationship with a certain Madonna look-alike on the balcony of the Delano…that is, before LeBron had her and probably after a few rounds at the decadent Rose Bar. Red drapes line the walls, Venetian glass chandeliers dangle above the bar seating, and celebs and gold diggers alike scatter the blush-hued interiors. You didn’t come here to eat, so don’t expect much from the dining menu, but the cocktail variety is expansive, so you can indulge accordingly.