Mayfair bars

The lobby bar of Corbin and King's understated art deco hotel has impeccable service and top-notch tipples in a low-lit and discreet setting, where only the tables are bathed in pools of light.

Straight out of ‘Mad Men’, The Bar is darkly lit, comfortable and heavy on jungle foliage along a signature wall. Cocktails include compelling house creations, like the Downtown Manhattan, which is served in a bag of smoke. 

For suave service, a luxurious atmosphere and a dark, moody setting, The Bar at The Dorchester scores big. Swerve its menu of overpriced gin and tonics in favour of 'forgotten' classic cocktails – like the Ramos Fizz.

A pulsating basement bar beneath Dabiz Muñoz’s StreetXO restaurant. The cocktail menu is described as ‘liquid cuisine’ and drinks being rustled up behind the bar look pretty freaky too and drinking vessels include fish bowls and Chinese takeaway cartons. A trip here guarantees an experience a million miles from the one you get in the surrounding Martini bars of Mayfair.

Claridge’s remains one of London’s best hotels. The downside: everyone knows it, and its beautiful bar (designed by David Collins) can be a little oversubscribed. But hey, you can’t beat it if it’s a glass of bubbles you’re after.

The Connaught has always had the most country house-like feeling of London’s great hotels, and the effect reaches perfection in the effortlessly beautiful Coburg. Sip flawless classic cocktails in style.

A Mayfair wine bar with all the posh tipples and small plates you’d expect, but with a light, bright soundtrack of pop hits. Comptoir is brought to you by Master sommelier Xavier Rousset – formerly of Michelin-starred Texture and now proud parent of Blandford Comptoir and other wine-heavy restaurants – so the wine list is expertly curated. 

The flagship bar at The Connaught is luxury on a different level. The cocktails served up are world-class wonders, light bounces around the room in pure elegance and service is nothing short of exemplary. Get them to wheel over the martini trolley for one of London’s best drinking experiences. 

The bar within upscale Mayfair restaurant Corrigan’s crafts cocktails using ingredients ferried across daily from Irish chef Richard Corrigan’s County Cavan farm. Cocktails are divine and the setting is swanky, but the atmosphere can be a little flat after the pre-dinner rush.

Drinks at the Brown's Hotel bar are served in gimmicky glassware – no Mayfair snootiness here, then. The setting is also playful, paying homage to the swinging sixties. It’s a pricey spot, but a good shout in hotel land when out of the ordinary is what you’re after.