What a viewtiful world we live in
A great hotel bar is a joy to behold, and even better with your poison of choice in hand. It’s a salve for weary travellers and an escape for local denizens, all tinged with the frisson of a chance international encounter. Of course, there are any number of factors which make a hotel bar great, not least of which are the cocktails, but to really make you feel like you’re connected to the city, it’s hard to beat a knockout view and setting. So, sorry Bar Hemingway, we love you, but sometimes a gal’s gotta give a little extra, and these babies really put the oh AND the aah into panorama…
Welcome to the future, Beijing-style… [Photo by Francisco Diez/Flickr]
Like the rest of China, the capital Beijing is hell bent on embracing the 21st century. This can result in the bad – tearing down its historic nabes, building ugly new edifices, more pollution, congested roads, bad art and skimpily-clad bar girls; and the good – sit-down public loos, some innovative architecture, less spitting, better service, higher thread counts and more properly made cocktails and gin-based drinks using time-honoured methods, in stylish, cosmopolitan lounges, hurray! Say ni hao to the new breed of bars raising the bar in Beijing’s cocktail scene.
Tinkerbell, is that you...
Time was you could always find fairies at the bottom of your garden, as long as you believed in them, but in the world of Wii we live in today they’re scarce as hen’s teeth. Unless you live in Bangkok. Tucked away on hip strip Thonglor is an intoxicating dingly dell of a new bar, The Iron Fairies, that has the Big Mango’s boys with poise and girls sans pearls in a spell – a dark, whimsical, unique and atmospheric adult hideaway where clever Aussie Ashley Sutton brings together wine, cocktails and comfort food with, of all things, a foundry. Clap your hands for Tinkerbell and if you really believe…
And all through the house, nothing was stirring, not even a blue leopard…
London’s fashion elite have long embraced Mayfair’s art deco icon Claridge’s hotel, and this Christmas she’s giving a little back to the pack by opening her stately bosom to Brit bad boy designer extraordinaire John Gallliano for Dior, and his phantasmagoric festive tree. Scary chic, c’est very chic.
Wham bam glam at alfresco pioneer SEVVA
We love a win-win situation and Hong Kong’s ban on smoking inside bars and clubs earlier in the year has accelerated the opening of stylish rooftop and terrace venues, most with eye-popping views and settings to match, in a city that had, until recently, been sadly lacking. So, no more smoke in your eyes or smell lingering in your Brioni or Alexander Wang, and even more places to get merry under the stars. Here’s our pick of the crop.
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