The best hotel bars in London

Scarfes Bar is tucked away in Holborn's Rosewood London and is so called because legendary British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe’s caricatures and Pink Floyd artwork graces its walls. Despite this playful energy, it's definitely not for kids, with live jazz most nights, an open fire, and shelves stacked with antique books hand-picked by a wise Portobello antiques dealer.

The Kray twins, Oscar Wilde, Emmeline Pankhurst – many a big name has walked through the doors of the notorious Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in Covent Garden, but none will have had such a comfy time as those who check in to the NoMad hotel, which took over the Grade II-listed building in 2021. Side Hustle is the atmospheric bar with low lights, leather booths, a Californian-inspired menu (try the build-your-own beef short rib tacos) and enough tequila and mezcal cocktails to guarantee a good night’s sleep.

Step into The Standard’s bright red bubble lift and ping up to this 10th floor party bar. It’s tasteful, boujee, and most importantly: vibey. Sweeties’s theme is ‘new wave glamour meets glorious misbehaviour’ – and while we’re not entirely sure what that means, there’s certainly something to be said about the sheer naughtiness this place radiates. One side of Sweeties is decked out with floor-to-ceiling glass, with views that make King's Cross somehow look glamorous.

One of London’s original American-style bars and one of the very first places to introduce US cocktail tradition to British soil, this art deco corker needs to be seen to be believed. Smart staff dress in dapper white suits and serve drinks that are among the capital’s finest. Just consider this for those really special occasions – you’ll be dropping loads of dosh per drink.

The stratospherically over-the-top decor in the Rivoli Bar harks back to the golden era of cocktails between the wars. Lalique glass panels, gilded ceiling domes and art deco everything. Their menu is equally extra – alongside the classics you can order from a selection entitled; Biodynamic Forces Through The Alchemy of Planets and Plants. Make ours a Jupiter, which is poured tableside a portable fountain and then topped up with Champagne.

If you are looking for a single, mind-blowingly strong, heartbreakingly delicious cocktail, you’ve come to the right place. Dukes is one of London’s true classic bars, and justly famous for the theatrical presentation of martinis created and brought out on a trolley specially for you. But don’t neglect the rest of the list: the level of cocktail skill here is phenomenal. The drinks are among the most expensive in the city, but the bar snacks are fabulous. Take your drinks date through the cobbled streets of St James’s to Dukes and you won’t fail to impress.

Such furtiveness at this top-secret bar at Raffles makes sense; the hotel is in the Old War Building, where Ian Fleming came up with his infamous James Bond books when he was a Naval Intelligence Officer. The two rooms – know as 006 and 007 – were once storage vaults for the reports and papers of MI5 and MI6 agents, while the entrance lobby was once a guard room. Naturally, photography is banned in the Spy Bar, and, of course, the best order is for a Vesper martini – Bond’s favourite. 

Mr Lyan is in charged of this Thames-facing hotel bar in Sea Containers London, with awesome drinks that make you think. The powder-blue room is lush and cosy, and enjoying a drink inside this acclaimed bar is surely the best way to gaze upon the river without having to deal with that pesky London breeze. The drinks menu changes yearly, but what you can expect is a blend of ‘fun, clarity and deliciousness’. It has also been named the first-ever 3 PIN bar, awarded by the Pinnacle Guide – kind of like Michelin stars for bars. 

This basement adjunct to One Hundred Shoreditch is a relaxed, impressively low-lit and supremely welcoming space. With its terrazzo tables, cool pine panelling and soft 1960s-stylings, the menu comes from megastar mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana – aka Mr Lyan – so everything is imaginative and delicious.

This is the pinnacle in hotel drinking. Not only is the Connaught Bar draped in plush, silvery furnishings and fitted with a fleet of effortlessly efficient – not to mention dapper – staff, but the place has a dedicated martini trolley. A martini trolley, people. Grab a chair and let the trolley do the rest of the work. You’ve earned it.

Claridge’s remains one of London’s best hotels. The downside: everyone knows it, and its beautiful bar can be a little oversubscribed. Butn a quiet night, there are few finer spaces in which to enjoy a cocktail, whether traditional or 21st-century. Still, the staff treat everyone with respect and always mix their cocktails with care. And if the crowds prove too much, the hotel’s Fumoir bar, a cigar-lover’s paradise until the smoking ban, is an elegant escape hatch, as is the dreamy Painter’s Room.

Fitz’s sits inside the Kimpton Fitzroy London, just on the corner of Russell Square. If Rick James and Jay Gatsby got together to throw a bash, I reckon it would look like this. Jazz Age plumage fluffs up from behind chairs while a giant glitter ball hangs from above; the back bar’s arches hint at art deco elegance while bright modern art punctuates the walls; and music drifts from up-tempo funk to mellow jazz. Drinks are, naturally, great.

Bartending bigshot Salvatore Calabrese is behind this super luxe drinking destination at the Corinthia Hotel. A Champagne and cocktail spot, the menu is inspired by everyone from Yoko Ono and Banksy to Coco Chanel and Frida Kahlo. You can't beat the classics though. If in doubt, order Salvatore’s Martini, based on a technique he developed back in the 1980s. 

This stylish cocktail bar in the five-star Brown’s Hotel is named after the equally chic fashion photographer Terrence Donovan. The walls are lined with his 1960s prints and the menu comes from the mighty Salvatore Calabrese. Keep an eye open for regular residencies from some of London’s best chefs, too.

You’ll find over-the-top drinks in an over-the-top room at The Langham’s Artesian, but this level of artistry is still widely considered to make for the best bar experience you’ll find anywhere in the world. Canapés are pretty epic, but it’s all about those show-stopping drinks.

There’s an old-school glamour to this bar at Mayfair’s Beaumont hotel. It borrows its slick style of service from the States and combines it with drinks that carry a bit of a kick. Named after the artist, with Magritte prints on the walls, the cocktails here are also often of the surrealist persuasion. 

If you’re going to live it up in London hotel bars, pick one that looks the part. The Coral Room at the Bloomsbury Hotel is a chic hangout with its hot pink tones screaming to be Instagrammed. Find a booth or sit up at the bar where flirtatious can offer advice on one of the best English sparkling wine lists in London – a fabulous drink for a fabulous setting.

Inside City playground The Ned is a surprisingly intimate drinking space, The Library Bar. Sipping martinis and champagne in among leather-bound books makes you feel sophisticated as hell, but there’s still a playful side to this bar – two adorable trollies that get wheeled up to your table when you order a classic house martini.

One for the fashion set, the London Edition’s bar is a cosy, cosseted backroom with a roaring fire and a party-sized punch bowl. Sounds like a house party at your great aunt Mildred’s, but trust us, it’s way chicer than that. Bar staff are uber glam and have some serious knowledge about the menu to boot. Try something adventurous on the seasonal menu.

Another one from the pros at the Savoy, a trip to the Beaufort is an equally pricey affair but it’s one that’s worth its weight in gold. That’s because this beauty of a bar is decked in the stuff (and a bit of black). Jazz pianists perform on the regular and champagne cocktails are the specialty, so head here to feel like you’ve been transported to an F Scott Fitzgerald novel.

One of the most quirky and colourful of hotel bars, Zetter Clerkenwell brings some countryside charm to central London but still maintains a classy look that suits the hotel crowd to a tee. Expect a short succinct list of globally-inspired cocktails that truly pack a punch, from classic martinis to sours and fizzes.