An Imbiber’s Guide to New York City Hotel Bars

Rents skyrocket and once-iconic Metrocards become obsolete, but New York City’s best hotel bars are timeless. These are dynamic, multi-faceted spaces. One day you might sip a Martini at a Midtown grand dame while off-duty Broadway actors have an impromptu singalong around Cole Porter’s piano; the next, you’re clinking glasses of spritzy Basque rosé on a mod Brooklyn rooftop. 

After more than 20 years living in New York, I remain eternally delighted by the chance to sample expertly made cocktails, frosty beers, and cult wines alongside world travelers and the 8.4 million others who call this magical, maddening city home. Here are 10 New York City hotel bars to check out, whether you’re a longtime local or just in town for the night.

Bar Blondeau at The Wythe Hotel

If the words “hotel rooftop bar” evoke overpriced and forgettable drinks accompanied by a sound system so aggressive it limits conversation to smiles and hand gestures, this breezy, indoor-outdoor Williamsburg spot presents a strong counternarrative. The chicly midcentury interior has cozy nooks and booths that extend onto a roof deck with cushioned seats and raw wood tables overlooking the Manhattan skyline. The menu overdelivers on all fronts, with smoky tuna tartare and crispy Japanese fried chicken to pair with classic and creative cocktails like the Martini Blonde (coastal Italian gin, cucumber vodka, vermouth, lemon oil, and a housemade pickled onion). I’m especially fond of the by-the-glass wine list, which has everything from crowd-pleasing Finger Lakes Riesling, to Ameztoi’s fan-favorite rosé, to a crunchy, insider-y Grenache-Moscatel blend from Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico.  

The Bar Room at The Beekman

If you’re a tourist visiting Wall Street or Ground Zero, or a local serving jury duty in one of the neaby courthouses, there’s no better respite from the Lower Manhattan throngs than this living-room-style lobby bar in a 19th-century landmark building. The sprawling space has impossibly high ceilings thanks to its nine-story atrium, and artfully arranged groups of velvet and leather armchairs. Well-heeled crowds sample local-leaning craft beers, a tightly curated wine list, and cocktails like 6pm in Osaka (vodka, blanc vermouth, orgeat, passionfruit, and pomegranate). Chef Tom Colicchio created the menu, which includes chicken wings with Calabrian chiles and honey, butter lettuce salad, and quail-egg-topped steak tartare.

The Bar at Baccarat Hotel New York

Maximalists, hold on to your chapeaux. This glittering bar in the French crystal company’s only hotel is what I imagine Versailles would look like if it were somehow transported to Midtown Manhattan. There are wine-colored walls, a barrel-vaulted ceiling, and 60-foot bar illuminated by giant chandeliers. Afternoon tea service and an all-day menu from two-Michelin-starred chef Gabriel Kreuther lead the way for luxe cocktails like a Manhattan made with rye and private-cask Laphroaig, craft beers, a sizable Champagne selection, and other wines by the bottle and glass. Still thirsty and feeling flush? The $5,000 Linea Alta Martini is prepared tableside, accompanied by caviar, garnished with a 24-carat gold leaf, and served in a Baccarat Tsar coupe. (I’m told you get to keep the glass.)

Bemelmans at The Carlyle

Serving ice-cold Martinis and caviar-topped blini since 1947, Bemelmans is as much a New York City institution as yellow cabs or the Yankees. Named for the illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans, whose murals line the walls, the low-lit space has cozy tables, banquettes, and a bar thronged by well-heeled hotel guests and native Upper East Siders. Most are there for classic cocktails—the JFK Daiquiri and Bobby’s Manhattan are among a handful named for notable former patrons—but Bemelmans also serves clubby dishes like steak tartare, brown sugar-glazed chicken wings, and slices of New York cheesecake. All are accompanied by unparalleled people watching and live music by pianists and jazz combos.

Champagne Bar at The Plaza

The only New York City hotel on the National Register of Historic Places, the Plaza sits in a 1907 landmark on the south side of Central Park. Its Champagne Bar overlooks the glittering Pulitzer fountain and pours big-name bubbles like Krug and Billecart-Salmon alongside glasses of industry favorites like Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs and 375ml bottles of Tattinger. Cocktails include classic French 75s and Bloody Marys, plus house creations like the Sol Ardiente (tequila, sotol, mango liqueur, and black tea). The Champagne Bar also has a TikTok-famous caviar service and, for those eager to turn their Eloise-fueled dreams into a reality, a stellar afternoon tea.

King Cole Bar at the St. Regis

Fresh off a 2024 refurbishment—the first renovation to the 1904 hotel’s public spaces in more than a decade—the King Cole Bar remains the ne plus ultra of moody Manhattan glamour. Named for the 30-foot, 1906 Maxfield Parrish mural illuminated above its dimly lit wooden bar, the surprisingly small lounge has hosted generations of boldfaced names. According to local lore, its bar might just be the birthplace of the Red Snapper cocktail—expect to see at least one expensively dressed patron sipping the scarlet cocktail nightly. I’m partial to the briny brilliance of King Cole’s Dirty Martini, but the menu also includes a stellar 12-year-Negroni and signature drinks like the Smokey Signore (scotch and Amaro Montenegro). Even by New York standards, prices are high, but they accompany all drinks orders with generously filled bowls of spiced nuts and other crunchy snacks. 

Little Ned at The Ned NoMad

Choose your own adventure at this wood-paneled jewelbox within The Ned NoMad, a hotel and members-only club in Manhattan’s 1903 Johnston Building. Sip a Saturn, mezcal Negroni, Dill Pickle Martini, or glass of Chablis in a booth next to the buzzy bar on the main floor, or contemplate jaw-dropping Empire State Building views on the mezzanine level. Ordering for a crowd? Little Ned’s glamorous large-format options include Ginza Lights (Japanese whisky, yuzu soda and bitters, lychee, and lime) and Champagne fountains that serve 4-6 extremely lucky people.

Lobby Bar at the Ace Hotel Brooklyn

A plant-filled oasis in bustling Downtown Brooklyn, this mod bar has communal tables equally suited to coworking or catching up with friends over glasses of orange wine, Ghia Spritzes, or house cocktails like the Amara Fumosa (mezcal, Campari, blood orange, lime, and agave). Favorites from the kitchen and all-day bakery include chocolate croissants, gluten-free coconut banana bread, fennel chips to dip into green goddess whipped feta, little gem Caesar salads, and Angus sliders. As the sun sets, the space becomes progressively clubbier, with sets from Brooklyn-based and international deejays, and standing-room-only pop ups like Babe Wine Bar.

Lobby Bar at Hotel Chelsea

In 2022, this gilded bar reopened as part of an 11-year renovation project to the landmark downtown hotel where everyone from Mark Twain to Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe have hung their hats. There’s a gilded cheekiness to the aesthetic, with animal-print upholstery on sultry, low-slung chairs plus custom millwork, aged brass, and plus barstools at the marble bar. The signature 1884 Martini made with gin, Cedro lemon, vetiver, and Spanish olive oil is rightly famous. And I am consistently impressed by the bartenders’ friendly expertise even as the coveted stools fill with everyone from off-duty executives to cocktail nerds to deep-pocketed gallerists and the people who drink with them.

Peacock Alley at Waldorf Astoria

Earlier this year, following a nearly $2 billion and eight-year renovation, the Waldorf Astoria reopened its doors. The glamorous reboot includes a reimagined Peacock Alley, the cocktail lounge once helmed by hospitality legend Oscar Tschirky. While news releases surrounding the hotel’s relaunch called Peacock Alley “the city’s unofficial living room,” it’s decidedly posher than any NYC apartment I’ve been lucky enough to inhabit. The black lacqueur bar is flanked by tufted chairs and banquettes, and servers in velvet suiting and sequined gowns glide between the piano on which former hotel guest Cole Porter wrote “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and a filigreed clock gifted by Queen Victoria. Dishes by Gramercy Tavern ex-pat Michael Anthony include housemade pigs in blankets, sky-high seafood platters, and the iconic Waldorf salad.

PDT alum Jeff Bell designed the destination-worthy cocktail menu, which has signatures like the Waldorf (rye, Carpano Antica, and absinthe) as well as four Martinis, three Old Fashioneds, and rotating seasonal drinks. It all manages to feel abundantly luxurious without sacrificing fun—an embarrassment of riches in a city filled with them.

Left to right: The Baccarat Hotel bar’s $5,000 Linea Alta Martini prepared tableside, accompanied by caviar, garnished with a 24-carat gold leaf, and served in a Baccarat Tsar coupe. | Photo courtesy of the Baccarat Hotel New York; The large-format Champagne Martini at Little Ned | Photo courtesy of The Ned NoMad

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