Bar Pleiades is the cocktail bar inside the Surrey Hotel, which reopened in late 2024 after a multi-year renovation by Corinthia. The bar is decorated in lacquered black and white, inspired by Coco Chanel's Paris apartment. The drinks programme was rebuilt around the reopening by an alumni team from Death and Co and Caffe Dante, with seasonal menus rotating four times a year and a tightly edited Champagne list.
It is the right bar for a Champagne flight before dinner at Cafe Boulud upstairs, or a hotel nightcap after a Met Museum evening. It is the wrong bar for a casual drink in jeans — the room reads dressed-up. The New York Times's reopening review described the bar as 'New York's most considered hotel bar revival of 2024.'
One small lounge room off the Surrey lobby. Black-and-white tile floor, lacquered walls, a marble bar of about ten stools and a half-dozen banquettes. The Wall Street Journal's reopening coverage flagged the lighting as 'closer to a private library than a hotel lounge,' which is the right note for the room.
Order from the seasonal list — current cocktails sit at $22 to $26 and the build is precise. The Champagne by the glass list runs from $24 to $48 with grower bottles in the $90 to $200 range. Skip the bottle-service tables in the corner if you want bar interaction; the bartenders work the stools by design. The Infatuation called the Champagne service 'best-in-class for an Upper East Side hotel.'
Hotel guests, Met Museum trustees, and Upper East Side locals before dinner. Time Out's bar guide notes the bar is at its quietest between 17:00 and 19:00 — the right window for a conversation seat.
Bar Pleiades's own site at the Surrey Hotel; New York Times reopening coverage (2024); The Infatuation; Wall Street Journal hotel reopening review; Time Out New York; Google Maps reviews (n=400+).