Not many think of hotel bars today as the pinnacle of imaginative craft cocktails. Imagine trying to order even a basic Manhattan at a Holiday Inn. Shudder. But the fact is that hotels were once the home to some of the best bartenders in the world. Ago Perrone is one of our favorites in London. While many hotel bars are stuck in the Dark Ages, the lure of a hotel — and finding top-notch cocktails within — has not been lost to time. Here in NYC, it on the rise with the opening of NoMad and at a small but mighty bar called Lantern’s Keep in the Iroquois Hotel.

Bringing a downtown approach to midtown, Keep’s head bartender Theo Lieberman (previously of Milk & Honey) lists classics alongside new creations on his ever-evolving menu — and even finds room for a modern twist, like a carbonated cocktail that changes daily.

Combine those drinks with squeezed-to-order juices, an ice program that includes double-chilled Kold-draft shaking ice, premium spirits and a rotating cast of incredible bartenders, and you have the makings of a notably decadent hotel bar.

—Food Republic