The World's Seven Best Hotel Bars

The bar might not be the first thing you think about when choosing a hotel. After reading this, maybe it will be.

All hotel bars are convenient for guests, to be sure. But to be an attraction in its own right, a hotel bar must have a honed sense of style, offer ambience that is serenely classy at one end of the spectrum or excitingly theatrical at the other, have decent finger food and -- not least -- pour great drinks.

Here are seven splendid hotel bars, culled from three continents, that hit all those marks:

THE BIG 4, Huntington Hotel, San Francisco

Atop Nob Hill in the refined Huntington, this is the hotel bar as posh club. Think dark, polished wood, green leather chairs, framed memorabilia of a bygone San Francisco festooning the walls.

	Big 4 Bar

The Big 4 name comes from a quartet of 19th century railroad barons, one of whom was the hotel's namesake, C.P. Huntington, of the Central Pacific Line.

Although it is linked to the past, the bar (and the Big 4 fine-dining restaurant) is far from musty. It has a good wine list, offers generous pours of wine and cocktails and showcases live piano nightly. The place draws a comfortable blend of hotel guests and locals who pop by for drinks and music. It's especially popular on Friday and Saturday nights.

1075 California St., San Francisco, Calif.,
Tel. [phone].

CENTRO, Kerry Center Hotel, Beijing

Edgy in the good sense and very much of-the-moment, this stylish, see-and-be-seen bar attracts a mix of locals and international business travelers.

In the early evening, you might see a high-tech globetrotter glued to the cell phone, sipping bottled water. Later on, alcohol replaces the water, flirting replaces networking and the music is turned up.

It's entirely possible that a product launch party or fashion event will unfold while you're there, enhancing the entertainment value. The drinks are good, and the wait staff is attentive without being obtrusive.

1 Guanghua Lu Road, Chaoyang district, Beijing, China,
Tel. [phone], ext. 42

LOBBY BAR, One Aldwych Hotel, London

Ensconced in an Edwardian stone building that formerly housed a newspaper, then a bank, One Aldwych uses the high-ceiled main lobby to display its destination bar. Quietly workaday in daytime, it becomes a stylish gathering place after dark.

	One Aldwych, London

The drink options are driven by an extensive martini menu; some are novelties, such as the chocolate martinis and blackberry and lavender mixes on offer. But the Lobby Bar pours classic martinis, too, and they are done right.

High-backed chairs, roomy couches, oversized sculptures and glorious floral arrangements help give the big, buzzy space a more intimate scale.

One Aldwych, London, England
Tel. [phone]

SIDEBAR, Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Wilshire, Beverly Hills

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse, CUT, became a sensation when it opened in June 2006. The puckishly named Sidebar, which debuted in an adjoining space at the Four Seasons at the same time, quickly caught on, too.

	Beverly Wilshire Bar

Architect Richard Meier, who also designed the Getty Center, gave the place a long bar and long tables with backless stools where tipplers who can't find a place at the crowded bar sip and nosh. Sidebar is more than a waiting room for CUT; it's a hangout in its own right, typically packed with beautiful young things.

Finger food to go with the cocktails includes mini Kobe sliders and onion rings with paprika-saffron mayonnaise.

9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, Calif.
Tel. [phone]

PEAK LOUNGE, Park Hyatt Hotel, Tokyo

The New York Bar, 11 floors up on the 52nd floor of the high-rise Park Hyatt , is better-known, but the 41st floor Peak Lounge is an equally good and often less-crowded place to linger over drinks.

Simply put, it's a lovely spot, flanked by floor to ceiling windows, awash with natural light during the day and lit by softly illuminated Japanese washi lanterns at night.

Occupying one side of a dramatic arrivals lobby that comes complete with a tall stand of living bamboo, the bar has mixologists who know their cocktails.

There is no better place to watch the sky darken and the "Blade Runner'' skyline of Tokyo come blinking into the neon night.

3-7-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku district, Tokyo, Japan.
Tel. [phone]

MAY FAIR BAR, May Fair Hotel, London

Radisson Edwardian Hotels , the new owners of this venerable, 1920s hotel, spent millions updating it and installing a smartly trendy bar, and it shows.

The May Fair Bar is located streetside at ground level, perfect for people-watching from both sides of the windows. It starts getting crowded with the after-work set by 6 and is a humming hive of drinking, snacking, chatting and flirting into the wee hours.

The food is small-plate fusion, the drinks are well-done and the cocktail list can surprise you; who'd expect an expertly made mojito - a product of the tropics - in these chilly precincts? Yet, there it is, knocked back by a young, Euro-glam clientele.

70 Stratton St., Mayfair district, London, England
Tel. [phone]

FELIX, Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong

The drama starts as you arrive on the specially designated elevator, when the lift goes dark and you step into this Philippe Starck-designed bar on the 28th floor of the Peninsula. The glittery outline of Victoria Harbor, one of the world's most eye-pleasing waterfronts -- bordered north and south by look-at-me skyscrapers -- is at your feet.

	Felix at the Peninsula Hong Kong

Felix includes a restaurant, but it's the drinks, served at a curving bar on a walk-up platform, and the city views you'll remember. Open till 1:30 a.m.

Salisbury Road, Kowloon district, Hong Kong, China
Tel. [phone]