Hotel Bars in San Francisco
San Francisco's hotel bars run from Union Square to Nob Hill and Mission Bay. Starlite, on the 21st floor of the Beacon Grand, was the Starlite Roof nightclub in the 1940s, and Tony Abou-Ganim created the Cable Car cocktail there in the 1990s. Bar Maritime, on the second floor of Palihotel, pours martinis and sea-inspired cocktails and takes no reservations, while Starlite strongly recommends them. Cavaña, on the 17th floor of LUMA Hotel, builds its list on agave and cane spirits and looks over Oracle Park. At the Fairmont, the Tonga Room turned the hotel's indoor pool into a lagoon in 1945, and indoor rainstorms roll through about every half hour. These are the bars we would start with.
- Cavaña★ TOP 10Rooftop Bar
Cavaña
Cavaña is the rooftop bar on the seventeenth floor of the LUMA Hotel in Mission Bay, an ode to Central and South America whose name joins agave and caña. The cocktails are ingredient-driven and built on mezcal, tequila, rum and cachaça, with a kitchen serving small plates and mains until late.
100 Channel St, 17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94158Sun-Thu 4pm-12am; Fri 4pm-1am; Sat 2pm-1amFull profile 
★ TOP 10Hotel BarStarlite
Starlite is the lounge on the twenty-first floor of the Beacon Grand Hotel above Union Square, with 360-degree views, green velvet couches and an all-vinyl soundtrack from nightly DJs. The cocktails were designed by Scott Baird around San Francisco icons, the Cable Car among them, and the snack menu by chef Johnny Spero runs to hot fried chicken buns and baked oysters. Guests must be 21 and reservations are recommended.
450 Powell St, 21st Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102Thu 4pm-12am; Fri-Sat 4pm-2am; Sun 4pm-12am; Mon-Wed closedFull profile- Bar Maritime★ TOP 10Hotel Bar
Bar Maritime
Bar Maritime is a cocktail bar on the second floor of Palihotel San Francisco, steps from Union Square, with a program built on martinis and produce-driven cocktails from Larry Piaskowy and the bar team. It takes no reservations, and the Maritime Boat Club, a seafood restaurant with a low-intervention wine list, sits through a curtain at the back of the bar.
417 Stockton St, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108Tue-Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri 4pm-12am; Sat 2pm-12am; Sun 4pm-10pm; Mon closedFull profile - Tonga Room & Hurricane BarTiki Bar
Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar
Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is the tiki bar of the Fairmont San Francisco on Nob Hill, a room the hotel says began as a Hollywood set design creation around a central lagoon that was the hotel's indoor swimming pool in the 1920s. Tropical rain, thunder and lightning storms roll through about every half hour while the band plays from a boat floating on the lagoon. The bar is known for what the hotel calls San Francisco's best Mai Tai, alongside other potent cocktails served in tiki glasses and faux coconuts, with Polynesian fusion cuisine on the menu. The hotel notes the room is subject to full closures and buyouts and points guests to its Instagram for the latest news.
950 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94108Wed-Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri-Sat 5pm-11pm; Sun-Tue closedFull profile
More of San Francisco
These are the hotel bars specifically. The full San Francisco guide ranks the best bars of every style, and the directory lists all 20 with a map and filters.
