Once, while awaiting the arrival of a date at one of the best – and remarkably underrated – hotel bars in London, I suddenly found myself in the presence of Oprah Winfrey seated alone two tables away from me in an otherwise empty bar. The Oprah. The actual Oprah Winfrey. I am not, as a rule, easily starstruck — an occupational advantage of a career entailing frequent interactions with people whose faces are considerably more famous than my own — but… Oprah, okay?
It’s this particular magic where anything – or anyone – could happen is just one of the many reasons why the best hotel bars stand entirely apart — rooms in which the civilised and the serendipitous arrive in equal measure, and are equally welcome.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the kind of establishment bolted to a hotel that provides an airport shuttle bus service, or those that offer complimentary parking and a laminated breakfast menu. The proper kind: the landmark hotel bar, the one with lighting design and interiors considered to the most exacting standards, and bartenders who have trained with the devotion of an acolyte.
THE SACRED ART OF NOT FETCHING YOUR OWN
Admittedly, the thing I cherish most about hotel bars is this implicit understanding: nobody expects you get your own drink. I have a fervent dislike of having to fetch my own refreshments when out prospecting for a martini. I feel very strongly about this.
At the best hotel bars, the order — however baroque — is received without a flicker. You want your Negroni stirred counterclockwise with the left hand while the bartender faces due west? Of course. Precisely how dirty would you like your martini? Like a crack whore — three olives, please. The tray arrives. The napkin is folded. The transaction is conducted with the reverence it deserves.
I have nothing but admiration for the tactical manoeuvrings of those hardy souls prepared to undertake the undignified business of attempting to attract attention at a busy pub bar for a glass of Chablis. But have neither the disposition nor elbows for it. At a hotel bar, I can depend upon someone whose income is derived from ensuring that I am never in danger of having to exert myself to procure refreshment.
This is not laziness. This is the correct order of things.
A COLOURFUL SMÖRGASBORD OF HUMANITY
One of the chief attractions of a decent hotel bar is the colourful smörgasbord / veritable potpourri of humanity that trickles in each evening. Possibly there is a venture capitalist from Düsseldorf; possibly called Wolfgang. We’ll never know. A sprinkling of vacationing Americans, reliable insurance against any kind of awkward silence. And yes, scattered among the furniture, there may be one or two ladies in the business of exchanging caresses for currency, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re a crucial ingredient, adding a risqué touch to the scene.
That Oprah sighting was not, as it happens, an isolated incident — a hotel bar, properly attended to over several decades, yields a remarkable cast of characters.
"Precisely how dirty would you like your martini? Like a crack whore — three olives, please."
Once, late one Saturday evening circa 2012, a cream cashmere-clad David Beckham descended the stairs to the marvellously louche basement bar at Blakes, presumably in search of a civilised pre-slumber dram, only to encounter an unholy trinity of my two best friends and me at our most magnificently ungovernable (we still had the stamina and metabolism for such things back then). Wisely rethinking his intention, Beckham demonstrated the kind of agile footwork that marked him as one of the most celebrated midfielders in a generation with a swift about-face and retreat.
Blakes has been closed since 2023, and, in my opinion, the basement bar at…At Sloane has assumed its mantle as the neighbourhood’s most hedonistic after-dark destination.
On other occasions, I have found myself in the orbit of Claudia Schiffer having afternoon tea en famille, and enjoyed a late evening tete-a-tete with the late Richard Roundtree, aka Shaft, widely considered the first Black action hero, and a thoroughly charming gent. A friend once found herself elbow-to-elbow at a hotel bar in New York with one-third of Hanson, the trio of brothers from Oklahoma who brought to the world the pop masterpiece that is MMMBop. They remain fast friends to this day.
THE PARTICULAR ALCHEMY OF A HOTEL BAR
They are unhurried, unpressured. Not where you pop in for a ‘swift’ pint. This is where you linger.
My personal preference is for bars that aren’t too much of a scene. People-watching? Yes. People watching other people who are there to be watched by the other people? Count me as a nope.
Chelsea’s landmark hotels hit just the right note on this scale. World-class propositions with all the trimmings without the needless posturing.
There’s also nothing awkward about wafting in to the Drawing Room at The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel, for a French 75 on your own. There’s no pity, no raised eyebrows. That said, discerning when a patron is in the mood for conversation or solitude — and responding accordingly — is one of the great gifts of a world-class bartender.
By the way, for reasons that extend well beyond the obvious, a proper hotel bar is an excellent option for a first date. As a litmus test of fairly reliable accuracy, it ranks among the greats in determining a person’s ease in the world — their fluency with beauty, their comfort in rooms that take craftsmanship seriously and whether they are curious about their surroundings. I wouldn’t recommend basing your choice of life partner on it — but Kipling had a point about the man who can keep his virtue while talking with crowds and his ease while walking with kings. A hotel bar is a reasonable place to find out which you’re dealing with.
I once suggested the bar at …At Sloane for an after-dinner digestif. My date was visibly bewildered and wondered aloud whether a pint of lager somewhere else might be a better option. Reader, there was no second date.
Sir Franks Bar at Beaverbrook Town House
The Drawing Room Bar at The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel
The Basement Bar, ...At Sloane
The Aubrey at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
The Best Hotel Bars In Chelsea
Sir Frank’s Bar
Hotel: Beaverbrook Town House
The vibe: The booth seats beside the bar are among the best-positioned in Chelsea — close enough to the action, private enough for anything. The limited-edition cocktail programme changes regularly and rewards repeat visits; the bartenders remember your name and your order, and have the grace never to mention it unprompted. Lighting pitched to absolute perfection.
Address: 115–116 Sloane Street, SW1X 9PJ
The Drawing Room
Hotel: The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel
The vibe: Scalloped bar seats, tulip lighting, lush carpet underfoot and stiff drinks overhead — precisely the kind of intimate that only very good interior design achieves without appearing to try. There is no pity, no raised eyebrow, no social penalty whatsoever for arriving alone. The French 75 is, on its own, sufficient justification.
Address: 75 Sloane Street, SW1X 9SG
The basement bar, …At Sloane
Hotel: …At Sloane
The vibe: If the notoriously decadent Hôtel Costes in Paris and a rebellious English heiress with an unchecked addiction to erotic fiction and a hereditary disregard for curfews had a lovechild, …At Sloane would be the result — a hotel whose entire philosophy is, essentially, romance. The basement bar is the dernier mot in Parisian decadence: a moody colour palette, velvet seats, mosaic tiles, candlelight, and a pair of curtained alcoves that are, frankly, naughty.
Address: 34 Draycott Place, SW3 3BT
The Aubrey
Hotel: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
The vibe: An Edo-period Japanese drinking den transplanted to the fifth floor of Knightsbridge’s most storied hotel — The Aubrey is where serious cocktail craft meets a room of considerable drama. The omakase cocktail menu is among the most inventive in London; the black lacquer interiors, a considered theatrical backdrop.
Address: 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA
The Chinoiserie
Hotel: The Carlton Tower Jumeirah
The vibe: The most genteel of the group — this is where you come for afternoon tea that evolves, with a nudge, into an early evening cocktail without anyone’s raising an eyebrow. The room has the particular quality of having been designed for lingering, and the clientele, largely, has got the message.
Address: 1 Cadogan Place, SW1X 9PY
