These Classic Hotel Bars Need to Be Experienced Whether You’re a Guest or Local

Hotel bars have a built-in guest advantage. Close out the tab and you’re an elevator ride away from home for the night. But a truly great hotel bar needn't rely on this convenience factor alone to reel in patrons, which (always a good sign) tend to include plenty of local regulars, too. The very best hotel bars in America shine like no other watering holes on the block—rife with rich histories, cool atmospheres, and of course superb drinks.

The Sazerac Bar in The Roosevelt Hotel, still one of the best hotel bars in New Orleans, is credited for pioneering classic cocktails like its namesake drink and the Ramos gin fizz. Some hotel bars boast long-held traditions, like the Fairmont San Francisco’s Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar that encircles an indoor pool and orchestrates thunderstorms.

Our top overall hotel bar pick is The Carousel Bar & Lounge at Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans for its pure novelty and rich cocktail history. The Vieux Carré originated in this French Quarter haunt, equipped with a motor (like the one in your lawn mower) to power the rotating bar that moves with the help of a hidden chain—challenging friendly bartenders to remember your face, not your seat number.

Few bars can claim to be designated literary landmarks. Authors Earnest Hemingway, Eudora Welty, and William Faulkner all referenced The Carousel Bar—and playwright Tennessee Williams was a regular guest. It celebrates its 75th anniversary later this year.

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Many of the best hotel bars are deeply rooted in history. In fact, if you think of your favorite classic cocktail, you've probably got a hotel bartender to thank for its invention. That’s because the hotel bar rose to prevalence in the 19th century, coinciding with the “Golden Age of Cocktails" spanning from the 1860s to Prohibition. During that period, the martini, daiquiri, Manhattan, and many more legendary libations were invented, says Rick Camac, executive director of industry relations at the Institute of Culinary Education.

“A great classic hotel bar takes you back to a bygone era,” Camac says.

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Still, hotel bars are proving there’s plenty of room for invention, like the mixologists at Tiger and Peacock in Memphis who consulted astrology books to tailor their zodiac-themed menu. At Dallas’ Midnight Rambler, where seasonal cocktails revolve around themes, a drink menu celebrating the regions of Texas includes a savory BBQ Manhattan with sweet vermouth infused with mesquite smoked brisket.

Ahead, we’ve curated 20 hotels furnished with some of the nation's best bars. Many are rich with cocktail lore and tall tales of famous bartenders and patrons from wild eras past. Others hold a few contemporary surprises in store. All of them offer a truly unique classic bar experience that you'll really just need to sip for yourself.

Best Overall Hotel Bar: The Carousel Bar & Lounge at Hotel Monteleone

New Orleans, LA

You’ve got to be of drinking age take a ride on this nostalgic French Quarter carousel. With 280 marquee lights, a custom-made merry-go-round canopy, and 25 bar stools, The Carousel Bar & Lounge opened inside Hotel Monteleone in 1949 and remains an icon in the Crescent City. The bar is the birthplace of the Vieux Carré, a boozy, spiced rye whiskey and cognac cocktail, and once served as a watering hole for Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, and William Faulkner. The carousel makes a full rotation every 15 minutes, so you won't spill your drink. Bartenders have to hop over the bar at the start of every shift. Each of the 25 seats at the bar were painted by former Disney artists. Barstools at the carousel are first-come, first-serve, but window seats looking out at Royal Street are also prized. “We are, supposedly, a haunted hotel—except the only spirits I’ve ever encountered are the ones behind the bar,” says Marvin Allen, the beverage manager at Hotel Monteleone.

Best Blast from the Past: Next Whisky Bar at The Watergate Hotel

Washington, D.C.

Check into the illustrious Watergate Hotel and you’ll be handed a quippy key card that says: “No need to break in.” Your subsequent move is to head to The Next Whisky Bar which has a wall of custom bottles lit with a bronze glow. The bar is known for its selection of whisky, bourbon, and rye from small batch distillers and large producers, and guests can puff cigars on an outdoor terrace. Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll spot lyrics made famous by The Doors woven into a rug: “Oh, show me the way to the next whisky bar…”

Best Tiki Hotel Bar: The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar at Fairmont San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

This legendary hotel bar should headline every tiki lover’s must-visit list. Created by a Hollywood set designer, The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is centered around a lagoon (the hotel’s former indoor swimming pool) and bands play from a floating boat. Rum cocktails flow, drinks come garnished with umbrellas, and there’s even tropical rain and booming thunder soundscapes to solidify the tropical fantasia.

Best Hidden Hotel Bar: The Vault at Bellagio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino

Las Vegas, NV

The Las Vegas strip is essentially one long bar crawl. But slip away from the whirls of the slot machines and the bright neon lights into The Vault, a sleek black bar hidden behind the casino cage at the Bellagio. Cocktail menus are crafted around hard-to-find spirits from the mid-20th century, and this is the type of place where large ice cubes come stamped and cocktails are finished in smoke boxes in front of you. Bet on The Fountain ($75), a top-shelf take on the Manhattan crafted with Eagle Rare 10 Year bourbon and Carpano Punt e Mes vermouth.

Best Hotel Bar in the Rockies: The J-Bar at Hotel Jerome

Aspen, CO

During Prohibition, covert tipplers sidled up to the J-Bar in Aspen and ordered “The Crud,” which may have looked like a milkshake, but came with a heavy-handed pour of bourbon. Located inside Aspen’s Hotel Jerome, the J-Bar has played host to miners and cowboys (sometimes riding into the bar on their horses), as well as 10th Mountain Division soldiers training on the nearby snowy slopes. Hunter S. Thompson even campaigned here during his run for sheriff. The bar retains its Old West charm, The Crud is still strong, and every bartender who has ever worked at the J-Bar has signed the Chinoiserie Chippendale till.

Best Hotel Bar for Jazz Fans: Lewers Lounge at Halekulani

Honolulu, HI

Catch live jazz at this legendary haunt in Waikiki, which has hosted famous acts dating back to the Count Basie Orchestra and right up to some of today's top virtuosos, including Diana Krall, trumpeter Eddie Henderson, and jazz singer Jack Jones. The cocktail menu at Lewers Lounge is inspired accordingly by Jazz Age beverage trends, with bee’s knees, Sazeracs, and the like, joining drinks made with Hawaiian ingredients and liquors that are named after musicians, like a strawberry Campari concoction with Kō Hana Kokoleka chocolate rum in honor of Ella Fitzgerald.

Best Prohibition Flashback: Magnum Speakeasy at Hotel Vin, Autograph Collection

Grapevine, TX

Traveling is all about getting out of your comfort zone. Do just that by ordering the “Dealer’s Choice” at Magnum Speakeasy inside Hotel Vin. Bartenders will take your preferences into account to shake up or stir a cocktail they think you’ll love. The 18-seat speakeasy is hidden behind a phone booth in the lobby and has an impressive list of whiskies and bourbons plus some interesting cocktails, like the Gold Fashioned—featuring Maker's Mark Cask Strength bourbon, Liquor 43, cocoa bitters, and gold leaf garnish.

Best Midcentury Vibe: Poka Lola Social Club at The Maven

Denver, CO

Poka Lola does a nice job welcoming hotel guests of The Maven and pulling in locals who are headed to a baseball game or hanging out in the Dairy Block alley that’s lined with bars, restaurants, and shops. The vibe is turn-of-the-century soda shop with fun cocktails like the Dairy Block Punch made with gin and a lime cordial that’s about as close as it gets to drinking a spiked key lime pie. The bar spills out into a lobby—perfect for popping open your laptop or checking out the hotel’s artwork collection.

Best Margarita: La Fiesta Lounge at La Fonda on the Plaza

Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe is home to the Margarita Trail, which is made up of a few dozen bars, many of them in hotels, that put their own twist on the beloved tequila cocktail. La Fonda’s lobby-level La Fiesta Lounge’s variation is a tangy, citrus-forward Tamarindo Margarita that’s been perfected by bartender Leo Granados, who's been with La Fonda for nearly three decades. The bar is a popular spot for live music, and it stays open until 10 p.m., which is late for this artistic New Mexico city.

Best for Cocktail History Buffs: The Sazerac Bar at The Roosevelt New Orleans

New Orleans, LA

Spirits lovers travel far and wide for a chance to belly up to The Sazerac Bar and experience first-hand the storied history of New Orleans' most famous classic cocktail. Considered by many to be the world’s first mixed drink, the spirit-forward Sazerac was invented in 1838 by apothecary Antoine Peychaud, originally made with a French brandy and a nip of absinthe, but during a national Cognac shortage substituted with an American rye whiskey. The Roosevelt New Orleans has been serving the Sazerac, the city's official cocktail, since 1938. The former Prohibition-era speakeasy is also credited with inventing the frothy Ramos gin fizz.

More Hotel Bars We Love

Treehouse on PCH at Paséa Hotel & Spa: Huntington Beach, CA

Make the open-air Treehouse on PCH your après-surf spot in Surf City, USA. This Huntington Beach bar is anchored by a life-sized tree sculpture with hanging lanterns and comes with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Sip a Pink Flamingo, a mezcal cocktail with thai chili aperol and watermelon, and chow down on fish tacos with pineapple salsa. DJs take over the decks on weekend nights.

Midnight Rambler at the Joule: Dallas, TX

Midnight Rambler is a handsome basement bar in The Joule with green marble tables, arched ceilings studded with warm lights, and a geometric back bar. But what really makes this hotel bar shine is the limitless creativity of the skilled bartenders who have the classics down, but came up with a vegan version of Jello shots and created a series of drinks in honor of local artists. The Dallas bar has received accolades from the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards and the killer playlists will get you dancing.

Press Room at Eliza Jane: New Orleans, LA

The historic building housing Eliza Jane has past lives as a bitters factory where Antoine Peychaud packaged his Peychaud's Bitters and was also the original location of the Picayune newspaper. The lobby bar, called The Press Room, is a nod to the past with charming finishes like brick arches, a marble fireplace, velvet chairs, brass lighting, and antique typewriters. The Big Easy hotel is known to host cocktail classes, live music, and crawfish boils.

King Cole Bar at The St. Regis: New York City, NY

Bar-goers can sip martinis or bloody Marys underneath Maxfield Parrish’s Old King Cole mural at the eponymous bar inside The St. Regis. Like most cocktails, the lore is disputed by some, but the King Cole Bar claims to have invented the bloody Mary. It was originally called the Red Snapper so as not to offend refined bar-goers. St. Regis hotels throughout the world each have their own riffs on the tomato juice cocktail. The King Cole Bar is getting an upgrade, scheduled to reopen late-summer 2024.

Owl Bar at Sundance Mountain Resort: Sundance, UT

The meticulously restored 1890s-era bar that Butch Cassidy and his gang frequented was moved from a small town in Wyoming to Sundance, the ski resort with luxe cabin stays that Robert Redford created outside of Park City, UT. The bar and the bar back are originals, and there’s even a stash of photos of Butch Cassidy and his gang plus ones from Redford’s 1969 adaptation of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The Owl Bar doesn’t take reservations, so you’ll probably need to hang out for awhile before you settle in by the crackling fireplace to listen to local musicians strum their guitars while you sip your whiskey.

Cueva at Marriott Marquis Houston: Houston, TX

To get a preview of cocktail trends that will take over in the future, head to Cueva, a sleek bar in the lobby of Marriott Marquis Houston led by an in-the-know bar team. The bar serves twists on classics, like the “Call Me Old Fashioned” (that comes with a smoke show), plus a seasonal drink menu that might include something like a Japanese gin and matcha cocktail or a Texas-style margarita with a heat warning.

Tiger and Peacock at The Memphian: Memphis, TN

After you’ve woven your way in and out of the famed bars on Beale Street, head over to Tiger and Peacock, a hip maximalist bar bursting with colors and patterns in The Memphian. At this rooftop spot, your drink order is written in the stars—literally. There’s a cocktail menu based on the zodiac signs.

The Manor Bar at Rosewood Miramar Beach: Montecito, CA

Love the idea of sidling up to the bar, cracking open a book, and flipping through the pages in between sips of something strong? The Manor Bar at Rosewood Miramar Beach is just the place for you. The moody, library-inspired bar boasts a “Chronicles of Cocktail” menu that, like whatever you’re reading, has an element of escapism. Villains are the muse for the latest iteration, from an effervescent Hennessy cocktail inspired by Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray to a bright and bold gin and roasted banana cocktail that’s a tribute to Shakespeare’s Lady MacBeth.

Cindy’s Rooftop at Chicago Athletic Club: Chicago, IL

A contender for some of the best views of Chicago, Cindy’s Rooftop crowns the Chicago Athletic Club. It’s topped with a glass atrium plus an open-air terrace with views of Lake Michigan, Millenium Park, and the Bean. The menu comes with beautiful illustrations of craft cocktails and concise descriptions, like the Peachy Keen cocktail with Japanese whisky, Scotch, Nixta Licor de Elote, peach, and lemon that’s described as “stone fruit, silky, lightly smoky.” The bar also has a thoughtful list of spirit-free cocktails.

Tune Up at Kimpton Armory Hotel: Bozeman, MT

This speakeasy-style bar at Kimpton Armory Hotel is called Tune Up because in its past life it was the military band room for the National Guard. The bar hosts live music several nights a week and has a nice list of Montana spirits, including whiskeys and vodkas. The hotel’s rooftop bar, Sky Shed, is also worth a visit—featuring mountain views with fire pits to keep you toasty in the colder months.

Why You Should Trust Me

Brittany Anas is a former mixologist with over a decade of experience writing about travel and spirits, including numerous articles about wine, spirits, and cocktail culture for Men's Journal. She's visited dozens of hotel bars, some that are lacking a soul and others that are true standouts and worthy of spreading the word about. She also consulted several other travel and hospitality experts for this piece.