London's best new bars for World Travel Market 2018

Next month, more than 50,000 travel experts will descend on ExCeL London for World Travel Market 2018. While the days will be spent at the exhibition centre, the evenings bring an opportunity for networking over a glass of wine or two, and where better to do this than at London's brand new bars. From swanky hotel bars to pioneering sustainable venues and exclusive members' bars to buzzing multi-venue sites, these new destination bars are leading the way on London's nightlife scene.

If you are attending World Travel Market 2018, which takes place at ExCeL London this November, you can access the official hotel deals from HotelMap here.

Five-star serves: London's best new hotel bars

Sitting atop the Dorsett City Hotel, Jin Bo Law boasts fantastic City views.

London is home to some of the best hotels in the world – the five-star segment makes up 12% of the city's hotel landscape – so it comes as no surprise that the city is also peppered with world-leading hotel bars. Attesting this, 2018 saw three of them – The Connaught Bar at The Connaught, The American Bar at The Savoy and Dandelyan at Mondrian London (the overall winner) – reach the top five of The World's 50 Best Bars, confirming that hotel bars are now strong contenders against standalone sites. The past few months have further increased the competition with a handful of exceptional bars opening within the city's most luxurious hotels.

Fitz's is a sumptuous, richly decorated bar named after Charles Fitzroy-Doll.

Open since the end of 2017, The Coral Room in The Bloomsbury Hotel leads the way in the style stakes with an interior by acclaimed designer Martin Brudnizki, who is also responsible for the beautiful Scarfes Bar and Holborn Dining Room at Rosewood London. Upgrading the hotel's reception area, it refreshes the original panelled walls with a glossy coral and places an eye-catching Calacatta marble bar at its centre. Original Murano chandeliers, velvet chairs and antique-style brass hardware add up to a sophisticated 1920s aesthetic. Another new opening to have been given the Martin Brudnizki treatment is The Wigmore, a high-end 'pub' at The Langham with a menu overseen by two-Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux Jr. and a drinks list from the team behind the hotel's second bar, Artesian. Cask ales and craft beers are served alongside pub snacks that have been given a refined Roux twist.

The Coral Room leads the way in the style stakes with an interior by acclaimed designer Martin Brudnizki.

This year saw the arrival of new luxury hotels The Principal London (now rebranded as the Kimpton Fitzroy London) and Vintry & Mercer, and with them came two glamorous new drinking destinations. Kimpton Fitzroy London houses Fitz’s, a sumptuous, richly decorated bar named after Charles Fitzroy-Doll, the architect responsible for the 1898 Grade II listed building in which the hotel will be housed. With dark blues and purples, rich velvets and vintage touches, it has a plush Great Gatsby-esque design. Further east, at Vintry & Mercer, Do Not Disturb is equally lavish with a 1920s retro glamour aesthetic. Hidden away in the hotel’s basement, it serves barrel-aged cocktails in sultry, sophisticated surroundings. Also in east London, the newly opened Jin Bo Law sits atop the Dorsett City Hotel and offers arresting views of the City of London. With the St Botolph without Aldgate located right next door and the Gherkin, Cheesegrater, Walkie Talkie and Tower of London all visible from the terrace, the skyline is a unique blend of old and new.

George's Bar is Marcus Wareing’s latest tribute to architect Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Open since March, George’s Bar at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel is Marcus Wareing’s latest tribute to architect Sir George Gilbert Scott. Having headed up The Gilbert Scott restaurant since 2011, the Michelin-starred chef turn his attention to drinks, using his strong understanding of ingredients and flavours to present carefully crafted cocktails in striking 19th century surroundings. Designed in conjunction with the renowned David Collins Studio, the bar reinvents George Gilbert Scott’s original vision to create a more informal venue inspired by traditional European grand cafes.

Exclusive access: Members’ clubs that are open to all

The Curtain's Green Room juxtaposes industrial features with plush furnishings.

Last year saw the opening of five-star members’ club and hotel The Curtain and in 2018 it opened its swanky new cocktail bar, Green Room. Sitting just off the lobby, the expansive bar juxtaposes industrial features with plush furnishings and floor-to-ceiling murals to create a striking interior. Drinks are inspired by east London and the menu includes the floral MaBelle, a tribute to a walled rose garden in Victoria Park, and the Rough Trade, a tiki drink with a Bangladeshi twist as a nod to Brick Lane.

Legendary Soho venue Kettner’s has reopened as a Soho House hotel | Image credit Soho House

There’s been a flurry of new Soho House properties in recent years and 2018 has been no different with the launch of several new properties. First up, in January, was Kettner’s Townhouse, taking over Soho landmark Kettner’s. The legendary restaurant and bar – said to have lured everyone from Oscar Wilde to Edward VII – is now a 33-bedroom hotel, but the restaurant and champagne bar remain. In the latter, guests can sip on champagne and cocktails in smart 1920s surroundings. The original mosaic tiled floor has been kept while French glass lights, a circle walnut and marble bar, and inviting armchairs complete the rest of the space.

Kricket serves Indian-inspired cocktails alongside its contemporary food menu. Photo credit Run For The Hills

Spring welcomed White City House in the former BBC Television Centre as part of a ￡10 billion regeneration of the area that also includes a new campus for Imperial College University London, an extended Westfield London – Europe’s largest shopping centre – and 2,000 new private homes. The Television Centre is now home to an exciting line-up of bars and restaurants alongside 950 apartments, working space and White City House, a new Soho House members’ club and hotel. New cocktail bar The Allis can now be found in White City House – a concept transferring from Chicago – along with the Bluebird Cafe, featuring a vibrant 1960s inspired bar, and a new outpost of popular Soho restaurant Kricket, serving Indian-inspired cocktails alongside its contemporary menu.

Multi-purpose: London's best new bars within multi-venue sites

The Mulwray is a handsome cocktail bar above the newly renovated Blue Posts pub.

The BBC Television Centre leads the way in a new wave of multi-concept sites opening across London. Another is Five Miles, the first-ever craft beer nightclub. Located in Seven Sisters, the revolutionary venue houses a bar, club, restaurant and brewery in one, and is a particularly exciting opening given the number of music venues closing across the capital. Feeding the demand for late-night, quality beer – it's one of the few places that you can enjoy craft beer after midnight – Five Miles replaces warm, expensive cans of mass-produced lager with 18 taps of IPA, pilsner, lager, ale and stout. A ￡50,000 state-of-the-art sound system has been shipped in from Vienna and a decent sized dance floor takes centre stage, making the 500-capacity space the ideal spot for an evening of good music and even better beer. Another venue that’s brewing on site is St John at Hackney Brewery, which opened in the railway arches on Hackney’s Bohemia Place earlier this year. With a craft brewery, bar and restaurant all under one roof, the venue serves beer alongside Greek and Cypriot food.

The team behind much-lauded restaurants The Barbary and The Palomar have given historic Chinatown boozer The Blue Posts a new lease of life, reopening the original pub and adding a cocktail bar and restaurant. Said to have dated back to at least 1739, the ground floor pub retains its original name, high ceilings and large windows but upgrades the interior with forest green walls and a brushed metal bar. Upstairs, The Mulwray is smartly decorated with dark velvets, soft pinks, brass accents and shell-shaped lamps and boasts an on-trend cocktail menu featuring sherry, vermouth and alcohol-free options. On the lower ground floor, in the former beer cellar, Evelyn's Table is an intimate 11-seater restaurant led by The Barbary's head chef Nacho Pinilla.

Near & Far is a colourful paradise within Peckham Levels, a new creative playground adults.

A creative playground for adults, Peckham Levels has taken over a previously disused car park – home only to legendary rooftop bar Frank's Café – and filled it with a street food hall, hair salon, yoga studio, exhibition space, wellness centre and co-working space for local artists and creatives. What's more, the new venture welcomes three new bars. Lady Godiva serves a selection of craft beer and small-batch spirits and WEST is all about natural wine. The stand-out for design, however, is the bright and cheerful Near & Far. A colourful paradise of pink neon lights, retro velvet furniture, palm tree wall prints and hanging foliage, it's a cheery affair with well-priced cocktails.

New trend alert: London's best new sustainable bars

Dandelyan is continues to challenge the industry with cocktails themed around industrialisation and large-scale food systems.

With the opening of White Lyan – the first cocktail bar in the world to use no perishables – cocktail bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, aka Mr Lyan, became a pioneer in sustainability and he continues to lead the way in a trend that has since become more prevalent in the hospitality industry. According to a poll by the Diageo Reserve World Class team, nearly half of customers are willing to pay a 10% premium for socially responsible and environmentally friendly produce. This clear demand has led to a number of sustainable openings across London, with Mr Lyan at the forefront. The multi-award winning Dandelyan – named the World's Best Bar in 2018 – was his second London opening and it continues to challenge the industry with cocktails themed around industrialisation and large-scale food systems. Sadly, however, the bar is set to close in 2019 to make room for a new venture. More recently, in 2017, Ryan transformed the former site of White Lyan into Cub and Super Lyan. The former is a drinks-led restaurant in partnership with acclaimed zero-waste chef Douglas McMaster. Its team of chefs, bartenders and chef-bartender hybrids present a tasting menu that consists of both food and drink dishes as well as some that combine the two. Downstairs, Super Lyan serves experimental twists on classic cocktails in stripped back surroundings.

A drinks-led restaurant, Cub serves a tasting menu that consists of both food and drink dishes.

Also open since 2017, east London bar Scout follows Mr Lyan's planet-friendly footsteps with a focus on reducing waste and championing sustainability. Opened by Matt Whiley of Purl and the Worship St Whistling Shop, the bar only uses ingredients from the British Isles and ingeniously transforms leftover cocktail ingredients into bar snacks. Bringing a tropical vibe to Bermondsey, Nine Lives is as image-conscious as it is planet aware. A beautiful subterranean drinking den, it contrasts exotic plants and woven geometric lights with exposed brickwork and marble touches to create a unique jungle meets urban design. A bamboo theme runs throughout and carries through to the drinks by acting as an eco-friendly replacement to plastic straws. Like the straws, everything is designed to be reusable with one example being the redistilling of lemon pith to make liqueurs and hand soap. Leftovers are then composted to assist the growth of the herbs, fruit and vegetables in the bar's back garden.

Bringing a tropical vibe to Bermondsey, Nine Lives is both image-conscious and planet aware.

London also welcomed its first fully sustainable pub in 2017. Run by brothers Ed and Tom Martin, the Long Arm has its own on-site urban farm, micro-brewery and distillery, meaning beers can go straight from grain to glass and provide punters with the freshest and most environmentally friendly beer possible. Waste grains are also put to use as fish feed, and the fish are used to fertilise salad leaves and herbs before being turned into tacos and fish burgers. A more recent launch, neighbourhood wine bar and restaurant Sapling is a stylish new addition to Dalston. Specialising in sustainable, organic, biodynamic and low-intervention wines, the new venue has a long, double-sided bar running through its centre and offers a weekly changing menu of around 36 wines.

Further reading for World Travel Market 2018

If you are attending World Travel Market 2018, which takes place at ExCeL London this November, be sure to check out these further articles from HotelMap. From brand new hotels, boutique hotels and the city's best hotels to top hotel restaurants, trendy hotel bars and hip east London hotels, they detail the very best places to stay, dine and drink in London during World Travel Market 2018.

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A number of special hotel deals have been arranged for registered visitors and exhibitors for this year's World Travel Market: Check out the hotel deals for World Travel Market 2018.

CONTACT THE WORLD TRAVEL MARKET 2018 CONCIERGE TEAM

If you are attending World Travel Market 2018 you can access the official hotel deals from HotelMap here.

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