A hotel bar is often a reliable refuge for travelers, but the truly great ones are destinations in themselves. Crafting an excellent cocktail is merely the baseline. What elevates a great hotel bar is the ability to capture the essence of its location while providing a memorable experience. Forbes Travel Guide’s incognito inspectors tasted their way through lounges spanning from the vineyards of Napa to the shores of Miami, and we found the 11 hotel bars in the U.S. that stand above the rest.
These watering holes are part of Forbes Travel Guide’s Star Bars, an inaugural list of the world’s best hotel bars. To find the 58 honorees — the number pays tribute to FTG’s 1958 founding as Mobil Travel Guide — expert inspectors visited each one multiple times and sipped cocktails. The winners were determined by data collected as part of FTG’s 2024 and 2025 Star Ratings, based on several exacting standards. The top publicly accessible bars achieved the highest scores for their beverage program and presentation, as well as providing seamless service and an exceptional guest experience.
New York proved to be the U.S. cocktail capital with three bars, more than any other city. Statewide, California and New York tied with three bars, Florida tallied two and North Carolina, Nevada and Philadelphia each had one.
Here is the full list of America’s best hotel bars for 2025:
33 North
Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club
Orange County
33 North’s name refers to the closest latitude line to its California base, halfway between the equator and the North Pole. X marks the spot for the newly renovated interiors, featuring soft sunset colors and coastal accents.
The most-ordered drink is the Chile De Árbol, a spicy-sweet, black sea salt-rimmed concoction with agave, lime juice and Lalo Tequila infused with cinnamon and jalapeño, Fresno and habanero chilis. Add on bites like caviar and chips from famed chef Michael Mina’s adjacent Bourbon Steak Orange County.
The Bar
Auberge du Soleil
Napa
Take in sweeping views of vineyards and olive trees from the sun-drenched terrace of The Bar, preferably with wine from the 15,000-bottle cellar (like the excellent local sparkler Domaine Carneros Le Rêve). If you prefer a libation, opt for the Olive Grove Martini, with olive oil fat-washed Jean-Marc XO vodka, Dolin dry vermouth and orange bitters.
Charcuterie like Fatted Calf saucisson and California cheeses are natural pairings, but heartier offerings like the local halibut and Stemple Creek Ranch burger also hit the spot.
The Bar
Baccarat Hotel New York
New York
The Palace of Versailles’ stables inspired the look of this stunning scarlet space, featuring a barrel-vaulted ceiling with three ornate chandeliers, a 60-foot bar and black-and-white checkerboard flooring. The art on the walls spans important movements since 1764, the year the Baccarat crystal company was founded.
In honor of the hotel’s 10th anniversary in 2025, The Bar debuted the Decade of Decadence menu, which riffs on past memorable cocktails, like the Baccarat Rouge, with Cincoro blanco tequila, passionfruit, St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram, Cardamaro, lime, tea and a hibiscus ice cube. Of course, all drinks come in sparkling Baccarat crystal.
The Bar & Lounge
The Umstead Hotel and Spa
Cary, North Carolina
At this Five-Star hotel’s bar, sit on the terrace overlooking the expansive lawn, woodlands and a fountain shooting water into the private lake.
Among the culinary-inspired cocktails, sip the light and refreshing Hibiscus. The popular drink mixes Cathead vodka infused with a housemade hibiscus syrup, St-Germain, lime and sparkling wine. The Umstead utilizes produce from its One Oak Farm for the seasonal food menu, like the snapper crudo with radishes, sea beans, basil seeds, cilantro and yuzu dashi vinaigrette.
CUT bar
Four Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
New York
Next to Wolfgang Puck’s first Manhattan restaurant, CUT bar conjures a sultry mood with crimson shading everything from the velvet chairs to the glowing neon thunderbolt-like lights flanking the bar.
The drinks are just as alluring, like the Heart of Gold, a nuanced blend of herbaceous Botanist 22 gin, bright Contratto Bianco and bitter Suze and Italicus. Accompany it with bites like indulgent lobster roll sliders and pea hummus with warm pita bread or go for a juicy steak from the restaurant.
King Cole Bar
The St. Regis New York
New York
This icon demonstrates nightly why it’s endured for nine decades, cementing its place in cocktail history by introducing the Red Snapper — better known as the bloody mary — in 1934. The beloved tomato and vodka drink remains the signature libation for the bar and all St. Regis hotel bars worldwide.
Enjoy dishes like wild-caught shrimp cocktail and the New York lobster cobb salad while admiring the bar’s other famous facet: artist Maxfield Parrish’s iconic Old King Cole mural painted in 1906.
Lobby Bar
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco
San Francisco
Perhaps no cocktail is more emblematic of San Francisco than this bar’s Karl the Fog, an homage to the perennial fog that drapes the Golden Gate Bridge. Former bartender Matthew Duda came up with the idea after first visiting the city. “I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and experienced the fog around it, which made quite an impression on me,” Duda said
The Karl, a blend of Belvedere vodka, hibiscus grape syrup, St-Germain, lemon juice and aquafaba, is crowned with a mixed berry aroma “fog” bubble. When you burst the bubble, it transforms to mist.
Lobby Bar
The Tampa EDITION
Tampa
The lush greenery enveloping the wood bar almost makes you forget you’re in Tampa. So do the drinks — the Stonefruit Matador reimagines one of the earliest predecessors of the margarita, when tequila mingled with fruit. Crafted with Milagro Silver tequila, sun-ripened apricot and zesty citrus, the cocktail also adds a Mediterranean slant.
In between sips, nosh on duck fat-roasted nuts dusted with Mediterranean herbs or olives soaking in oil, herbs, lemon and garlic and play a round on the canary-yellow billiards table.
SkyHigh
Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center
Philadelphia
Soaring 60 stories above Philadelphia, this sky bar dazzles. A floral “runway” entrance leads to breathtaking 360-degree skyline views through 40-foot glass walls.
Among the list of bold flavored cocktails, the Ginger Margarita is a guest favorite, featuring Arette Artesanal Reposado tequila, fresh ginger, housemade ginger-lime syrup, Cointreau and a ginger salt rim. For the mouthwatering food, legendary chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten combines Philly favorites (like the wagyu cheesesteak spring rolls) with his own classics (the egg toast with caviar and herbs).
The St. Regis Bar
The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort
Miami
Gleaming black stone, antique mirrors and gold accents fill this Miami Beach stunner. Choose from cocktails like the Bloody Sunrise, a citrusy take on the bloody mary, or the Dynasty, with Suntory Toki whiskey, aromatic bitters, cinnamon, vanilla and honey syrup and a smoky finish.
Or opt for champagne — the hotel bar performs an Art of Sabrage ritual at 6 nightly (a salute to Napoleon Bonaparte, who famously popped bubbly with his saber in both victory and defeat) and pours complimentary glasses for guests.
Tower Suite Bar
Wynn Tower Suites
Las Vegas
With so many bars in the Wynn complex, this cream-hued option feels like a hidden gem. The menu splits drinks into Classics, like the Old Fashioned, and Modern Muses, interpretations of the former, like The Mystic, with Casa Dragones Reposado tequila (aged in rare Japanese mizunara oak), Dos Hombres mezcal, Nightbloom No. 3 vodka infused with smoked dates, Nixta corn liqueur, Madagascar vanilla liqueur, a housemade spiced sangria tea syrup and Angostura bitters.
More bar secrets: along with rare whiskeys, it serves espresso drinks all day long.
