The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
ASIA, AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Manhattan at the Conrad Singapore Orchard
Singapore This hotel is part of the Millenia Singapore shopping district and is pleasant enough, but the bar is the reason you’re here. The sleek, speakeasy-style space pays homage to New York through the cocktail menu and could seem sombre, but manages to create a brilliant buzz. You’ll discover phenomenal house-made concoctions and get a glimpse of the famous Rickhouse, a room full of barrels for barrel-ageing cocktails.
A Manhattan (£11). Doubles from £270 (0065 6733 8888; hilton.com).
Jigger and Pony at Amara Singapore
Singapore
Amara Singapore is a fairly standard affair a 10-minute walk from the business district; Jigger and Pony was originally an independent bar that moved in so staff could expand ideas in a bigger space. Consider this essential cocktail tourism because drinks push all the boundaries; there’s non-stop imbibing ingenuity and a constant striving for new flavours and concepts.
Funky Panky (£17), a mix of Indian gin, tuak – a fermented rice liquor from Borneo – and agarwood.
Doubles from £128 (0065 6879 2555; amarahotels.com).
Argo at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Another Four Seasons that is taking food and drink exceptionally seriously, having already enjoyed a magnificent haul of Michelin stars in the restaurants. The bar matches these ambitions and by the team’s own admission, Argo is one for the drinks geek. Here advanced techniques create complex cocktails, but there’s also a playfulness that avoids unnecessary pretension.
The Birds of Lantau mixes luxury supping rum Diplomatico with vermouth, passion fruit, lime, coffee liqueur and absinthe (£18).
Doubles from £630 (00852 3196 8888; fourseasons.com).
Writers Bar at Raffles Singapore
Singapore
The original Raffles dates back to 1887 but had a necessary facelift in 2019, with food and drink among the most notable elevations. The Long Bar is the home of the Singapore sling, and invariably this classic won’t disappoint, despite the throng of tourists. But it helps that you can always retire to the renovated tranquil Writers Bar, which is arguably the better of the two.
You’ll find simple but spectacular highball serves, including the house Sipsmith Raffles 1915 gin mixed with London Essence Co orange and elderflower tonic and calamansi.
Doubles from £694 (0065 6337 1886; raffles.com).
Virtù at Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo Otemachi
Tokyo
The second Four Seasons to arrive in the Japanese capital is based in the business district and famed for its cityscape views. At the bar, the quality is in the craft but also the curating of the drinks list; a French collection rubbing shoulders with an impressive set of Japanese spirits, most of which headline a spectacular selection of signature cocktails.
The Smoked Ume Fashioned (£19), made with homemade brandy umeshu, Michter’s Bourbon, Japanese whisky and Hinoki bitters.
Doubles from £755 (0081 3 6810 0655; fourseasons.com).
The Main Bar at Royal Mansour
Marrakech
If Humphrey Bogart had a choice, he might’ve headed to Marrakech to find a more refined gin joint at the Royal Mansour, a luxury hotel quite literally fit for a king (Mohammed V). Bogart cut his drinking teeth on martinis in 1920s New York and the bar here feels like a return to that era, with its hand-carved silver ceiling a worthy distraction until you find the drinks menu of complex cocktails created in a secret culinary lab.
If it’s again time to give the liver a rest, try the non-alcoholic tea-infused cocktails.
Doubles from £1,300 (00212 52980 8080; royalmansour.com).
Bulgari bar at Bulgari Resort Dubai
Dubai
This hotel, with its gold-lined swimming pool, is classic Dubai, so it stands to reason that service at the bar should be world-class. But the wider drinks programme has also drawn praise, proving staff won’t rest on laurels; successfully twisting classic serves and infusing locally sourced ingredients with plenty of Italian panache.
The Bulgari Cocktail, made with Tanqueray 10 gin, Aperol, pineapple and orange juice, is a refreshing drink for the Dubai heat.
Doubles from £1,496 (00971 4777 5555; bulgarihotels.com).
It’s got to be a martini here ( from £21).
Doubles from £740 (001 212 744 1600; rosewoodhotels.com).
Zapote bar at Rosewood Mayakoba
Riviera Maya Resplendent luxury on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, where arriving guests are taken to rooms via speedboat. Cocktail industry leaders rate the bar as the best in Mexico: such is the growing demand for a taste that it recently enjoyed a world tour, heading to Madrid with the Lost Explorer Mezcal pop-up.
Lost Explorer Mezcal cocktails are unmissable. The Mezcal Stalk (£22) blends the agave spirit with Grand Marnier, pineapple and lemon juice, agave syrup and worm salt.
Doubles from £815 (0052 984 875 8000; rosewoodhotels.com).