Boston
Polished, precise, civilised. Boston's best hotel-bar drinking — picked for craft, not concierge buzz.
Back Bay · $$$
The Rooftop at the Revere Hotel draws a steady local crowd in Back Bay. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
Seaport · $$$
Rooftop at The Envoy draws a steady local crowd in Seaport. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
South End · $$$
Lookout Rooftop & Bar draws a steady local crowd in South End. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
Fenway · $$$
Citizen Public House draws a steady local crowd in Fenway. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
Theater District · $$$
The Ivy Room draws a steady local crowd in Theater District. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
City centre · $$$$
Lookout Rooftop sits on top of the Envoy Hotel in the Seaport District — a wraparound deck with views of Downtown Boston, the harbour and the Tobin Bridge.
Brookline · $$
The Publick House draws a steady local crowd in Brookline. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
Woburn · $$$
The Baldwin Bar draws a steady local crowd in Woburn. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
City centre · $$$
The Hawthorne operates at a level that most cocktail bars in America aspire to but rarely reach. Founded by Jackson Cannon, the bar has been one of the driving
City centre · $$$
Alden & Harlow is the Harvard Square restaurant-bar from chef Michael Scelfo — a celebrated New American kitchen with a tight cocktail programme that punches ab
Hotel bars solve specific problems. You need a bar near your room. You need somewhere quiet to take a meeting. You want the drink right the first time and you don't want to negotiate a wait. Every recommendation below clears those three bars. Most are open to non-guests; we've flagged any that aren't.
Best for: business travellers, late-checkout drinks, hotel-room negotiations made civilised, anniversaries that deserve a hotel jacket. Pricing skews higher than the city average — that's the trade. The rooms below justify it.
Civilised, polished, not pretending to be a club. Pick by neighbourhood and proximity to where you're sleeping.
Looking beyond Boston? See our guide to the best hotel bars worldwide, or compare hotel bars city by city.