The Hotel Bar Is Back

By Janet Mercel on 04.28.26

If you came of age in the mid-aughts — the golden age of the hotel lobby bar — you know its power. Neutral territory, open late, nonjudgmental, and semi-anonymous. Anyone could walk in, and everyone did, especially in New York.

At Mercer Kitchen’s bar at The Mercer hotel, which opened in 1997, you couldn’t throw a stone without hitting a Very Important Person any night of the week. Luckily, the corner of Prince and Mercer is having a revival with the opening of Sartiano’s from BOND Hospitality, along with the re-opened storied basement bar SubMercer. In the 2010s, the Ace Hotel in Flatiron was a lifestyle all its own. Rooms outfitted with turntables told you everything you needed to know about the Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch-designed lobby bar downstairs. If you were a band flying in for a gig from anywhere in the world, you stayed here, if only to make playing the basement venue more convenient. 

Then there was The Maritime, the porthole-windowed, 1960s-build modernist hotel in Chelsea. It also wasn’t just a bar. For a few wonderful years, the basement Hiro Ballroom was one of the best clubs in Manhattan, where you could find all the kids who worked at American Apparel dancing next to Hercules and Love Affair and Albert Hammond Jr.

And, of course, the holy grail that started it all: Ian Schrager and Philippe Starck opened their midtown masterpiece, The Hudson, in 2000, (immortalized by Samantha Jones in Season 6 of Sex and the City). Anyone who had the opportunity to ride that glowing escalator to the top and stand on the fluoro-lit glass floor knew the feeling that they had arrived. The genius juxtaposition was the escape to the off-lobby Library Bar– the original den of leather sofas, a pool table and cow portraits. From Bar Blondeau at the Wythe Hotel, The Blonde at 11 Howard, the rooftop at The William Vale, the list goes on. (This AHL editor may or may not remember her own twenty-something bachelorette party at the Hotel on Rivington.) 

If you’re a New Yorker, many favorites and standbys are very much alive, returning with new lives, sometimes new owners, and new incarnations of night — and day — life. The former 60 Thompson is currently living its best (new) life as The Manner, which boasts the hidden speakeasy Sloane’s. The Bowery Hotel, opened in 2007 by Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode (Jane Hotel, the Maritime) hasn’t lost an ounce of luster from its run-down-castle-chic nearly twenty years later. Uptown and down, the classics are alive and well in the grandeur of Bemelman’s Bar at The Carlyle, the King Cole Bar at The St. Regis, and the Champagne Bar at The Plaza. The Hotel Chelsea, refurbed and reopened in 2022, is as beloved as ever.

It’s not all about New York. The Standard has always ruled, from Miami Beach to West Hollywood. (Although NYC’s Boom Boom Room is proof that a bar can become even more well-known than its own hotel.) And once in Los Angeles, we don’t even need to point you toward the true legacies – Chateau Marmont and Tower Bar at Sunset Towers are where hotel bars begin and end.

From coast to coast and beyond, these are the hotel bars where you’re most likely to find A Hotel Life.

“The bar at Hotel Il Pellicano in Italy! No place in the world could be so laid back and chic at the same time. Their lead bar man Federico Morosini is an absolute legend and people are said to book a room just to have one of his Negronis….. Also, the Swan Room at Nine Orchard. The stunning vaulted ceilings in the old bank teller room…so pretty!” Tansy Kaschak, AHL Editor in Chief

Read our full reviews of Hotel Il Pellicano here and Nine Orchard here. 

“Portrait Bar at The Fifth Avenue Hotel is the perfect hotel bar in my opinion. It’s intimate in size, low-lit enough to be moody (but you can still read the menus) and has a classic atmosphere of sophistication thanks to wood paneled walls lined with portraits and an assortment of low velvet sofas as seating. It’s like having a drink in your grandpa’s study. But make it chic, with top-notch service and unique cocktails.” Kelsie Ponder, AHL

“My loyalty to Flute at the Broadwick Soho is strong. Martin Brudnizki‘s design is maximalist without being overwhelming:  leopard print accents, an art collection, and enough texture to keep your eyes moving all night. Flute is on the rooftop, where the disco ball spins until 3 a.m. and guest DJs take over on weekends. When you’re ready to come down, The Nook is tucked behind Bar Jackie. The intimate, record-player-and-fireplace hideaway you didn’t know you needed.” Kelsie Ponder

HOTEL RADAR: 

FAENA NEW YORK

Under the High Line and steps from The Whitney, nights belong to Faena. The artist’s mecca brings Miami and Buenos Aires energy to West Chelsea. Upstairs, The Living Room delivers golden-age glamour nightly. Put on a going-out-top, pair your Faena Spritz or Palermo Chic cocktail with nightly live music or a DJ set from The Muses, and watch the beautiful people do what they do best.

BACCARAT, New York City

Across from MoMA in midtown, the Gilles & Boissier-designed Baccarat is the kind of place that makes you feel like you’re getting away with something just by walking in. The Bar’s 60-foot length, checkerboard stone floors and vaulted ceilings play a moody foil to the crystal-chandelier glamour of the adjacent Grand Salon, where live jazz runs Wednesday-Friday and the champagne list is the longest in the city. Cocktails are serious, the room is serious crystal is everywhere.  

THE MAYBOURNE BEVERLY HILLS, Los Angeles

Across the pond from The Emory and Claridge’s, Maybourne brings its London pedigree to Beverly Hills — and the bar program alone is reason to show up. Dante Beverly Hills is the first West Coast outpost of the beloved New York aperitivo bar, serving sunset Negronis above the Hollywood Hills. The Maybourne Bar is Beverly Hills’ only dedicated caviar and oyster bar, and it’s all N25 caviar, fresh-shucked oysters, and Billecart-Salmon Champagne. And The Whisky Bar houses the largest collection of Macallan in North America, with a humidor stocked with over 1,000 cigars. Three perfect bars in the heart of the Golden Triangle? We can’t think of a single good reason to leave.

THE EMORY, London

Maybourne, the group behind Claridge’s and The Connaught, doesn’t do anything by accident, and this tenth-floor perch above Knightsbridge is no exception. Rémi Tessier’s design earns its place: the curved glass, stainless steel, and enclosed pavilion that works year-round. But the real draw of The Emory is the cocktails: legendary Argentinian bartender Tato Giovannoni, founder of one of the World’s 50 Best Bars, curates the menu. Our pick is the Garua Martini made with yerba mate gin and filtered London rainwater, Hyde Park spread out below. Read our full review here.

“I’d return for the Rooftop Bar and Cigar Merchants even if I wasn’t staying at the hotel. For a good drink and a cigar with a view, there’s just nothing else like it in central London. And the service is world-class. Did I mention the floor has a filtration system that sucks up the smoke? It’s never too smoky in the cigar bar, which is pretty cool.” Daniel Schwartz, AHL

THE NEWBURY BOSTON, Boston

Major Food Group ventures outside Miami and New York (Carbone!) to a no-holds-barred Boston venture. Contessa crowns The Newbury in a Ken Fulk-designed glass terrace with sweeping views of the Back Bay and Public Garden, channeling the grand trattorias of Northern Italy at full volume. The bar is modeled after a vintage Riva speedboat, the wine list is anchored by Piedmont and Tuscany and runs 6,000 bottles deep. Order the tortellini en brodo and get the window seat at sunset. It’s the most exciting new room in Boston. Read our full review here.