Raising the bar: At places like Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., hotel bars are having a moment, appealing to travelers and locals alike.
by Kayleigh Ruller
When I travel, I want to see it all. I want to collect every crumb of culture and squeeze restaurants into my itinerary like a tightly-packed suitcase. I do this jam-packing dance in an effort to realize the core essence of a destination: What makes this city tick?
But on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., I managed to get to the beating heart of the district without the booked-and-busy schedule. I found it from the plush seat of a hotel bar.
Hotel bars, reflective of their home cities, are experiencing a revival by bringing together locals and tourists alike. No longer a second-thought pit stop or a lodging convenience, the hotel bar is becoming a destination in and of itself.
“We’re seeing a renaissance of what the hotel bar is,” says Chrissy Sheffey, manager of Doyle Bar in D.C. It was at the Doyle, tucked into the first floor of The Dupont Circle Hotel, where, sipping a crisp vesper, I discovered that the hotel bar is, most definitely, hot.
Creating something distinct
“[Hotel bars] have their own identity, and they’re also telling stories nowadays,” Sheffey says. The Doyle’s classic cocktail menu is a delicious, sippable ode to the hotel’s Irish heritage as part of The Doyle Collection. Seven of the group’s eight locations are in Great Britain; Dupont Circle is its sole American property.
The Doyle’s menu is accompanied by a slate of seasonal drinks, most recently a lineup of spritzy spring cocktails with a floral motif. Each menu offers more than drinks — it reads like a woven narrative.
Dupont Circle’s restaurant The Pembroke and The Dupont Circle Hotel
Thanks to a steady flow of out-of-town guests and locals, hotel bars have a unique ability to stretch their creative muscles and invent something that feels distinct, says Tom Murphy, general manager of Dupont Circle’s restaurant The Pembroke.
“They have their own entrances, their own names, their own social-media platforms, their own whole identity,” he says. A hotel bar, not in the shadow of a hotel, but a destination in itself, is a trend both Murphy and Sheffey have seen blossom in recent years.
This creative push partly stems from necessity. The 2010s saw a craft-cocktail boom, and hotel bars had to evolve quickly to compete. They zeroed in on immersive themes, luxury design, attentive service, and hospitality-driven details like clever printed menus and crisp uniforms, Murphy notes.
While this “destination hotel bar” gains traction in the United States, Murphy says it’s the standard in Europe. Originally from Ireland, he points to the American Bar at The Savoy in London, Bar Hemingway at the Ritz in Paris, and The Sidecar at The Westbury in Dublin as prime examples — and some of the most renowned bars in the world.
“They’ve really redefined classic. They embrace the classic way of doing things and do them in a new, modern, sexy way that people just can’t get over,” he says.
In fact, some of the best mixologists in the world, like Oisín Kelly, World Cocktail Competition winner and bar manager at The Sidecar, have gained notoriety from their tenured stints at high-end hotels. It’s really no wonder: These bars are training grounds for excellence. Bartenders in major cities meet a breadth of global guests daily, which keeps their skills razor-sharp. What happens when a New Yorker, a Brit and an Angeleno walk into a hotel bar? The bartender better know how to make three different cocktails on the fly. That range and readiness often translates into a premium product: a drink — and an experience — guests return for.
A sense of place through people
Part of the magic of a hotel bar is that it’s a third-place magnet for locals and visitors alike. It attracts an eclectic cross section of people: commuters winding down, out-of-towners leaning in, and power players passing through — all within walls designed to reflect the heart of the city.
Perched at the Doyle, I extracted a deep history of Embassy Row, thanks to the bartender stirring my drink with precision. Around 4 p.m., suits swarmed into this artful, mid-century space, offering a glimpse of the work-hard-play-hard hustle here. I ordered East Coast oysters from the menu, as I sat next to a regular who pointed me toward the International Spy Museum nearby and shared the neighborhood’s storied LGBTQ history.
The Pembroke at The Dupont Circle Hotel
“You never know who you’re rubbing shoulders with,” Murphy says. At The Pembroke, he has seen everything from first dates to foreign-service officers. Sheffey once saw the mayor of Houston, a cast member of Abbott Elementary and a CNN host, all in one night.
As I soaked in the natural rhythms of this bar and its people, I spied D.C. beneath its buttoned-up, political layer. I glimpsed what was beneath the city — go-getters, wit, curiosity, art. I’m keen to believe that most hotel bars have this capacity to reveal the inner workings of a city’s culture.
A safe place
Conversation flowed easily at the Doyle. Maybe it was the vesper, or maybe it was the sense of security I felt.
Murphy notes that hotel bars can be a safer alternative for solo female travelers, as opposed to wandering around an unfamiliar city looking for standalone bars. Hotel managers are present, actively monitoring the property.
The corporate, built-in oversight infrastructure of a hotel isn’t just a benefit for the solo traveler; it keeps employees happy, too. The stability and benefits lead to staff loyalty and longevity, which directly translate to a positive guest experience, Sheffey says.
Hotel bars close to home
The hotel bar revival isn’t exclusive to D.C., of course. In Charleston, there’s the sleek, midcentury Living Room bar at The Dewberry. Hotel Bardo in Savannah continues to rack up accolades in Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Forbes, in large part due to its dining and drinking establishments.
Here in Charlotte, Dogwood Southern Table & Bar reopened this year at The Westin, with a sleek, 360-degree bar. The cocktail menu reflects the long history of Mecklenburg County, with sections like “Slow Sippin’ on a Screen Porch” and “Late Night Bonfire” that evoke a strong sense of place. The entire menu-magazine is called the Dogwood Resolves (a nod to the Mecklenburg Resolves of 1775), and the beverage list is paired with vintage photos and local history.
The hotel bar can be a mirror to its city, a refuge for travelers and locals. Whether close to home or far away, it can reveal as much about the destination as an overbooked agenda, simply from the hush of an evening drink and a conversation. SP
Featured image: Doyle Bar at The Dupont Circle Hotel. Photographs courtesy DuPont Circle Hotel.
