Mixology:Hotels Where Cocktails Were Invented

“Let’s drink to the hotel bar. A place where lovers meet, travellers recuperate, tourists review their days, and business people unwind. Where mixologists shake, blend and invent, often inspired by guests and their stories. And where sometimes, when everything comes together, those cocktail creations become legends in their own right, adopted by bars and tipplers all over the world. Today we’re looking at five hotels where classic cocktails were invented…

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Raffles Hotel, Singapore
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Perhaps the most famous hotel-born cocktail is Raffle‘s Singapore Sling. Visit the Long Bar where you’ll get peanuts with your cocktail and be invited to throw the shells onto the floor as tradition dictates. As women weren’t allowed to drink alcohol here in 1915, bartender Ngiam Tong Boon invented the Singapore Sling to masquerade as a soft drink so the ladies could enjoy an illicit tipple. Made from gin, cherry liqueur, grenadine, bitters and juice, it’s served shaken straight up and garnished with pineapple and a cocktail cherry.

If you want to see more hotels in Singapore, visit our Singapore hotels page.

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Knickerbocker, New York
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Shaken or stirred? Sip a Martini at the rooftop bar of the Knickerbocker where it was allegedly invented. The story goes that bartender Martini di Arma di Taggia served a blend of London dry gin, Noilly Prat Vermouth, and orange bitters favoured by John D Rockefeller, giving his name to the concoction. You can now take a Sky Pod overlooking Times Square and sip an Old King Cole Martini made from Old Raj Gin, Dolin Dry Vermouth and Castelvetrano Olives.

If you want to see more hotels in New York, visit our New York hotels page.

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Caribe Hilton, San Juan
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The creamy, summery Piña Colada is synonymous with sun-soaked Caribbean beach breaks, and the Hilton Caribe claims that its Caribar is the cocktail’s birthplace. The story goes that bartender Ramôn ‘Monchito’ Marrero invented the drink in 1954, and continued to serve it until he retired in 1989. These days you can take a chronological journey through the Caribar’s favourite versions of its rum-based creation, from Marrero’s original recipe to the all-new Clear Colada. Look out for the daily happy hour.

If you want to see more hotels in San Juan, visit our San Juan hotels page.

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Hotel Metropole, Brussels
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The story behind the Black Russian cocktail is as glamorous as the boutique Hotel Metropole where it was invented. At the start of the Cold War, American ambassador to Luxembourg Perle Mesta was hanging out in the hotel bar, and bartender Gustave Tops decided to make her a suitably dark and mysterious signature drink. A velvety mix of Russian vodka and Kahlø”a, the Black Russian is still a fixture in the hotel’s bar, along with other classic cocktails.

If you want to see more hotels in Brussels, visit our Brussels hotels page.

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Hotel Nacional, Havana
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What Cuba is to rum, the Hotel Nacional is to its namesake cocktail, El Nacional. Named after the Havana bar, the cocktail combines rum, pineapple juice and apricot liqueur. The hotel stands out for its art deco style and refined elegance, and you can well imagine the notorious characters of its 1930s heyday kicking back in its splendid bar. Try the original El Nacional with its light rum base, or the golden rum update and imagine chinking glasses with Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.

If you want to see more hotels on Havana, visit our Havana hotels page.”