It’s summertime and the living is easy, especially if you happen to find yourself in Asia with a thirst. So where to go? A rooftop with sweeping views of a frenetic city, or a smouldering man cave where the whisky is as good as it gets? No worries. We’ve got you covered from Shanghai and Saigon to Taipei and Tokyo, with our guide to Asia’s coolest hotel bars to hole up in this summer.
While the region has developed its own world-class cocktail scene, in Asia five-star hotels were always where the best drinks were served. From the riverside enclaves of Bangkok to the colonial-esque hideaways of Indochina, bartenders followed time-honoured traditions when creating classic libations that kept travellers sated for generations. Today, hotels across Asia maintain the highest mixology standards. Here are a few of our favourites.
Hong Kong
The St. Regis Bar at Hong Kong’s newest five-star hotel is an intimate haven discreetly tucked away next to The Drawing Room and The Terrace. Signature cocktails evoke a tale of two cities inspired by New York’s subway and Hong Kong’s trams, both launched in 1904, the same year that the St. Regis New York was founded. This story provides the creative narrative for 14 unique cocktails, including the classic Bloody Mary, first invented at St. Regis New York. While the space serves French-inspired and international dishes throughout the day and Afternoon Tea from 2.30pm to 5:30pm, you’ll want to arrive at 5.30pm for The St. Regis Champagne Sabering ritual, followed by the Canto Mary, hotel brand’s signature libation, which has been given a local twist.
Tokyo
While every hotel stirs up a bar or two for guests, not every hotel offers a den as dark, moody and smouldering as Palace Hotel’s Royal Bar, where the whisky should be brooded over before being drunk, and where the head bartender is, quite literally, the best in the world. A few years back, Manabu Ohtake bested 10,000 competitors for the ‘World’s Best Bartender’ crown in a Diageo contest. Ohtake’s bar is the kind of place where they monitor the temperature of their ice, so you don’t have to.
Bangkok
Did you really think we’d round up Asia’s coolest hotel bars without somehow including a rooftop bar? Bangkok’s newest rooftop bar, Spectrum, has recently opened as a sparkling new gem in the crown of the city’s top-shelf night spots. Designed by the Japanese design firm Super Potato, the Hyatt Regency Bangkok’s new bar features a collection of cool, intimate spaces spread over three different levels. An intimate study room with a shared table is an ideal spot for a private dinner party with a floor-to-ceiling outlook on the city’s skyline, while the spacious living room entices guests to linger with deep, cushioned chairs and wooden tables spread out over a velvety blue carpet. However it’s the alfresco terrace, which spans level 30 and 31, that’s the true drawcard and the best place to tuck into some wagyu beef sliders and a local craft brew while taking in the sprawl that is Bangkok.
Phnom Penh
They say no trip to the Cambodian capital is complete without a visit to Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s The Elephant Bar, which has been serving G&Ts and Tom Collins since 1929 to the rich and famous, including Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin and Charles de Gaulle. In fact, the bar’s signature cocktail is the Femme Fatale, which was named for Jackie Kennedy when she sipped the night away in 1967. We think that’s good enough to make a list of Asia’s coolest hotel bars.
Yangon
The Cigar Bar at newly-opened Awei Metta overlooks Pun Hlaing Golf Course, the only course in the country to host major tournaments. Decked out with low leather seats, the lounge is a thinking man’s oasis where you can smoke and drink in uninhibited fashion while watching the action on the 18th. To accompany a fine selection of Scotch whiskies and cognacs, the discerning gent may opt for a smooth BLV Royal Corona cigar or a Magnum 46, two of Cuba’s finest.
Hanoi
If you get bombed at Le Club in the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, never fear — there’s an air raid shelter just below. Joan Baez once sought refuge here during the Christmas Bombings in 1972, and recorded a portion of her album, Where Are You Now, My Son, in the hotel’s subterranean warren. Excavated in 2012 and opened to hotel guests as a memorial, the shelter opens every day at Happy Hour. Le Club emerged from a complete makeover in 2016, looking a lot more like a speakeasy from the Roaring Twenties than a bomb shelter.
Koh Samui
Banyan Tree Samui resort has recently opened what might be the quirkiest bar in Thailand — a cocktail caravan remodelled from a classic 1960s tuk-tuk. The MP4 Midget is virtually unseen on the streets of Thailand these days, but once upon a time, the “frogs”, as they were commonly nicknamed, were everywhere. Thousands of these 12 HP 350cc three-wheelers were manufactured by Japan’s Daihatsu company in the late 1950s and exported to Thailand to form a fleet of taxis nationwide. Revived from retirement, the newly dubbed Froggy Sea Breeze Beach Bar is open from 5pm till 11pm every evening. Highly recommended is the sweet-and-sour Froggy Melon, garnished with mint leaves, or The Botanical, a gin and absinthe-infused cocktail guaranteed to kick-start any engine.
Hue
With its elegant, old-world charm, Le Gouverneur Bar at the newly renovated and rebranded Azerai La Residence, Hue offers an intimate spot for an evening tipple. The artfully designed bar seats eight in a cozy area situated off the lobby lounge in the hotel’s 1930-built mansion, which was originally part of the colonial governor’s residence. A separate lounge area offers seating for two dozen more. Enjoy classic cocktails, wines, liqueurs and beer, including unique local brews amidst a comfortable contemporary setting with distinctive art deco aesthetics.
Taipei
Decorated in a classic Cuban setting with mahogany panelling, swanky leather club chairs, flatscreen televisions, and a private humidor, Grand Hyatt Taipei’s cigar shop and lounge, La Casa Del Habano, is the ultimate man cave. The venue boasts one of the largest Cuban cigar selections in Taipei, including Padron 1926, Opus X, La Gloria Cubana Serie R, Arturo Fuente Rosado, Rocky Patel 1961, and Camacho Triple Maduro, just to name but a few. The glass-enclosed lounge at the back is the ideal spot for smoking aficionados to mingle while savouring a single malt whisky from the hotel bar.
Check out Alpha Men’s Wining & Dining page for the latest F&B in Asia.
