Forget the minibar
can buzz the bar and request the Bloody Mary Cart, a “Mad Men”-inspired brassand-mirror affair stocked with your choice of premium vodka, gin, tequila or bourbon. Also included are the house Bloody Mary mix and your favorite garnishes and accoutrements: celery, olives, seasonal pickled vegetables, jumbo shrimp, even mapleglazed bacon.
The hotel’s marketing director, Paul Sauceda, says the offering — priced on par with the lobby bar at $14 per cocktail and no service fees — has been “really big with parents who can’t make it to the bar on Sunday mornings with kids.” This, it seems, is far more doable. melon juice, local honey and mint, and a dash of prosecco.
“It’ll get you in the mood for dinner without going to the full martini,” she says.
This Dutch hotel, part of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, reopened in 2016 after a year-and-a-half-long restyling that took inspiration from the Amsterdam’s 17th century canal houses.
General manager Alex van Gastel saw the addition of 1930s-style drink trolleys in each room as an extension of that traditional aesthetic; they’re more like home bars than minibars. Each has an artisanal wooden design and is stocked with nips of gin, mixers, glasses, cocktail-making gear and a booklet of recipes. (The drinks whip up for around $16 and are perfect for nightcaps after the lobby bar has closed.)
Of course, there’s also a small fridge in each of the eclectic rooms, where you’ll find chilled Corenwijn jenever and beer for a Dutch Kopstootje combo.
“Gulp one and sip the other,” van Gastel jokes. throwback to retro Hollywood glamour — crowded with 375 ml bottles of Belvedere and Ketel One vodka, Hennessy cognac and Tanqueray gin that are priced without the typical minibar markup. (The Veuve is “obviously kept in the fridge at all times,” the hotel’s general manager Jacques Lapierre explained.)
Should one bar cart prove insufficient, the two-floor Bisha suite has one in the kitchen and a second in the upstairs bedroom. Whatever isn’t already on hand — be it ice, cocktail shakers, fresh juice or garnishes — can be sent on demand by the hotel’s Crown Service concierge team.
Ronald Akili is best known as the mastermind of Bali’s most famous beach club, Potato Head. Now, the free-flowing booze that’s made the club so successful has carried over into his first hotel, Katamama, with a tropical Zen look on Bali’s stylish Seminyak Beach.
Each room has a maxi-bar inspired by Akili’s personal home bar; it’s outfitted with a custom bar kit made by local woodworkers and wrapped in hand-dyed fabrics. In terms of drinks, the focus is on house-infused spirits such as citrus vodka, lemongrass gin, and hibiscus tequila-plus a 200ml hand-blown Indonesian glass bottle of roasted pineapple arak, a rice-based spirit that’s made locally in small batches by a certified distiller. (Bottles start at $20.)
Don’t know what to mix them with? Opt for one of the $8 pre-batched cocktails instead. All you need to do is shake, pour and sip.