The Great Hotel Bars

London's hotel bars occupy a strange position: they are simultaneously the most touristed drinking rooms in the city and the most technically accomplished. That combination should not work, and in most cities it does not. Here it survives because the four best rooms are run by career bartenders who treat the job as a craft rather than a stepping stone, and because the hotels behind them are prepared to fund a bar that does not always make money.

The American Bar, The Savoy

Opened in the 1890s, presided over by Ada Coleman and then Harry Craddock, and the source of the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, which remains the most consequential drinks book in English. The room is smaller and lighter than photographs suggest, with cream walls, framed photographs and a pianist from 17:00.

• Order: the Hanky Panky, invented here by Coleman — gin, sweet vermouth, Fernet-Branca.
• Sit: the banquettes on the left as you enter, facing the piano.
• Arrive: 17:00 sharp, or after 22:30. Between 19:00 and 22:00 the queue is real.
• Expect to pay: £24–£30 per cocktail.

The Connaught Bar, Mayfair

David Collins's silver-leaf Cubist room, opened 2008, and the most decorated hotel bar of the last two decades. The martini trolley is the reason most people come: a wheeled cabinet arrives, you choose from five bitters, and the drink is built in front of you with a theatrical economy that never tips into performance.

• Order: the Connaught Martini with the bergamot bitter, once. Then the Fleurissimo.
• Sit: anywhere; there are no bad tables in a room this size. Ask for the corner banquette if you are two.
• Arrive: before 18:00 on a weekday, or reserve as a hotel resident.
• Expect to pay: £26–£32 per cocktail.

The Rivoli Bar, The Ritz

A 2001 room in camphor wood, gold leaf and illuminated glass, modelled on the Orient Express and easily mistaken for original 1920s work. Smaller and calmer than the other two, with the strictest dress code and, consequently, the most civilised atmosphere after nine o'clock.

• Order: a Ritz Martini, or the Ritz Fizz if you want the champagne route.
• Sit: the bar itself — there are only a handful of stools and they are the best seats.
• Arrive: 18:30. Jacket required; no jeans or trainers.
• Expect to pay: £25–£34 per cocktail.

The Fumoir, Claridge's

Twenty-odd seats behind a Lalique glass panel, black lacquer, and a rule against standing that keeps the room from ever becoming a scrum. It does not take reservations from non-residents, which is both the frustration and the point.

• Order: a Vesper, or whatever the bartender is enthusiastic about that week.
• Sit: you sit where you are put; there is no negotiating.
• Arrive: 17:00 on the dot, or accept Claridge's Bar next door — which is excellent anyway.
• Expect to pay: £24–£30 per cocktail.

"A grand hotel bar is the only place in London where a stranger in a good coat can sit alone for two hours and be treated as an honoured guest rather than a problem."

Practical notes

Bar	Reservations	Dress
American Bar, Savoy	Residents only; walk-in otherwise	Smart casual; no sportswear
Beaufort Bar, Savoy	Yes, online	Smart; jackets common
Connaught Bar	Residents and diners	Smart; no trainers
Rivoli Bar, The Ritz	Yes, by telephone	Jacket required
The Fumoir, Claridge's	Residents only	Smart; no sportswear

Service charge of 12.5 to 15 per cent is added to every bill in all five. Tipping beyond that is not expected. All five will make a serious non-alcoholic drink if asked — the Connaught and the Savoy in particular treat zero-proof orders with the same attention as anything else on the list.

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