The best hotel bars in NYC

When you think of art in hotels, you probably envision black-and-white cityscape shots or some odd abstract piece that looks like it was purchased on clearance at Marshalls Home Goods. The Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel may be (low key) the city’s hottest gallery. They just swapped out their David LaChappelle installation for 16 pieces by Andy fucking Warhol.

The elite nightlife crowd tends to circumnavigate New York until it finds a place it can endorse, then gossip magazines write up the spot, which attracts the paparazzi and shows like Billions, but then it’s time for the jet set to find a new landing pad. Well, the cool-kid party is currently reverberating off the walls of the Fleur Room at the Moxy Chelsea, where Bebe Rexha, Jonathan Van Ness and the Hadid sisters chilled at the Republic Records party after the VMAs.

Hell, yaas, Standard, East Village! Launched earlier this year by former Mission Chinese executive chef Angela Dimayuga, No Bar has become a fixture. With wild dance parties and crazy drag shows, this LGBTQ hotel-bar experience is unlike any other. Time Out New York reviewer Dan Q. Dao notes, “It’s clear this is a place to see and be seen. Beyond that, it’s a boozy, zeitgeist-y destination for queer cocktail lovers—and everyone else—in the year 2019.”

Because they have the run of whole buildings, new hotels are likely to have rooftop bars. With dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline across the river, the top of the tops is Westlight, located on the 22nd floor of the William Vale in Williamsburg. The views, vibes and victuals—order the potato skins with Kaluga caviar and yuzu hollandaise—are worth the steep drink prices at the bar.

Bars come and go so swiftly in NYC—one of the most competitive social crucibles in the world—anything with staying power can’t be missed: A visit to the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel should be on any New Yorker’s bucket list. While these things always have a mixed history, the Bloody Mary is said to have been invented here in 1934. The high-society spot thought the name was too crass, so the menu calls it the Red Snapper. Rub elbows with the tony set in this uniquely New York hotel bar.

Ian Schrager (of Studio 54 renown) has teamed up with House of Yes for the epic Paradise Club at the Times Square Edition. Until the morning hours, the optics, DJs and dancing are electrically unbridled, but the main event happens prior to 11pm. Before the dance floor is opened, Michelin-starred chef John Fraser’s feast (think waves of prosciutto, lobster and foie gras) is paired with a bacchanalian performance (aerialists, performance artists, magicians) that will tantalize all of your senses.