In the second article of this series, we again look under the bonnet of the CLASS Bar Awards, to reveal the hotel bars our voters love most.
The Hotel Bar of the Year (sponsored by Moët & Chandon) is one of the grander accolades of our industry. The competition couldn’t be tougher – the UK, led by London – has to be the Premier League of hotel bars globally. But there’s another reason too – opinions on what’s best moves at glacial speed. Connaught Bar won this gong four years in a row between 2022-2025. It followed a hattrick of wins by The American Bar at the Savoy from 2018-2020.
THE WINNER
This year Connaught Bar's stranglehold on the title was broken – Lyaness became the 2026 Hotel Bar of the Year. Of course, there’s history between our voters and that stunning South Bank space with a St Paul’s-dominated vista – Lyaness’ pre-cursor, Dandelyan, took Best Hotel Bar in 2017.
The Ryan Chetiyawardana-operated space has long been at the forefront, with drinks such as our Cocktail of the Year: The Unfiltered Martini (mashed Maris Piper sous vide with enzymes and bacteria, filtered and batched with Boatyard vodka) the latest evidence of an ever-convincing argument that Lyaness is London’s most consistent innovator.
THE FINALISTS
Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London is now a fixture of the Class Bar Awards finalists. The bar created in honour of world-famous cartoonist Gerald Scarfe (who guest-illustrated our magazine cover back in Autumn 2024) is a splendid expanse of dark woods and showpiece chandeliers, with white-coated bartenders delivering some of the best hospitality around. Now led by Andy Loudon, Scarfes was our panel’s second favourite hotel bar this year.
Connaught Bar has been a contender in awards, national and global, since the day Ago Perrone first got the keys. Its charm is its unrivalled hospitality, while drinks are a picture of restrained innovation, never straying too much from the identity of Brand Connaught. Be it Perrone, Giorgio Bargiani or Oscar Angeloni that welcomes you, Connaught doesn’t do disappointment.
Side Hustle at Nomad London has prised open a space in our top four in recent years, proving this category is slow moving but no closed shop. With an agave-leaning drinks menu and Mexican-inspired food (our winner of the Bar Food of the Year award), Side Hustle – now overseen by Maxim Schulte – brings casual vibes to a tradionally formal category.
THE CLASS COMMENDED
The above bars received the most votes in this category, but they are not the whole story. In fact, hot on their trail was a bar outside of the London five-star set.
For anyone of a certain vintage, The Cocktail Bar at The Merchant in Belfast needs little introduction. It won this award in 2007, 2008 and 2010 under the leadership of industry greats Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry. With a new, invigorated energy – led by Aaron Dugan and Emily Doherty, this grand wood-panelled hotel bar is firmly back in the conversation, with elevated drinks to rival anything in the hotel bar world.
It takes a little finding, its location being room 007 of the former office of MI5 and MI6 in the Old War Office building in Whitehall, but hidden cocktail den Spy Bar at Raffles London is becoming more conspicuous by the day. This is the digs of our Bar Manager of the Year, Sotiris Konomi – now Beverage Manager at the hotel – and his signature Vesper Martini is required drinking. Everything else about the experience, is top secret.
Joe and Daniel Schofield’s Sterling at Royal Exchange Hotel was our panel’s favourite hotel bar in England, outside of London. Set in the low-ceilinged former bank vault in the bowels of the building, it is the stand out hotel bar in the north, bringing the impeccable hospitality and flawless classics that you’d expect from a Schofields-operated venue. Highly respected bar manager Yadney Fernandes is also a former Emerging Bartender of the Year.
The Merchant Hotel in Belfast, is not only home to The Cocktail Bar but Bert's Jazz Bar – a restaurant-bar space of live music, bistro food and some of the city’s best cocktails. A night here is more than a drink, it’s proper night out.
This list wouldn’t be complete without former four-time world champion Artesian at The Langham, which under the stewardship of Lorenza Pezzetta and Giulia Cuccurullo has undergone a renaissance. With bright, sharp service, flowing champagne and creative cocktails, it remains a trade favourite.
As does The American Bar at the Savoy, arguably the most famous bar in the world. Led by Markus Basset, it too is enjoying a pleasing return to form, while American Bar at Gleneagles – no relation – is our panel’s beloved hotel bar north of the border.
Finally, it’d hardly be a list of hotel bars if Salvatore Calabrese’s name didn’t feature. His Donovan Bar at Brown’s Hotel – the oldest hotel in London – is a relative newcomer to the pantheon of great London hotel bars but feels like a stalwart.