cocktails (13)

I lived in Hong Kong for four years and by far the most impressive view of Hong Kong island is from 'Aqua', a bar/restaurant at the 29th floor of 1 Peking Rd, Tsim Tsa Tsui on the Kowloon side. On the floor above Aqua there is a Chinese Restaurant called 'Hutong' that is also very impressive and with dimmed lighting to enhance the view even more.

Manhattan is blessed with all manner of vertiginous drinking establishments. 230 on Fifth however, possesses a number of features which distinguish it as a great place to take in a drink and some views whilst on business. Its central location opposite Madison Square Park means every famous New York skyscraper, brimming with decades of successful deals, loom over you. The smart dress code means you can take an important client there with confidence and the great Malaysian-themed menu means you can avoid the pitfalls and potential embarrassment to colleagues of drinking on an empty stomach. In addition, besides an enormous outdoor terrace, the fancifully decorated interior offers some outstanding vistas even on a chilly winter's evening. Highly recommended.

A proper end-of-the-day marguerita with more booze than ice in it, served by a truly professional bartender in a proper hotel bar. Do it!

Great Asian restaurant steeped in New York cool, where you have a good chance of clapping your eyes on a genuine A-lister. Food, music and service all first class at quite reasonable prices. Amazing Kobe beef [again, reasonable prices], which is brought to your table with a steaming bowl of Miso soup, which you place the beef in to cook. A very imaginative cocktail menu, which includes the classy looking and tasty Nirvana. An all round great experience!

Bill Murray's portrayal of a man navigating through the maze that is Japanese business and etiquette was critically acclaimed. Central to the movie was the hotel bar which is frequented. Why not treat yourself to sky high views with cocktails to match (including the obligatory 'Lost in Translation' cocktail). Situated off Shinjuku, the bar is at the top of the ever so grand, Grand Hyatt - Tokyo.

Check out the bar at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in London for a taste of the Orient. Superb high-class service, great tasting drinks and an excellent location leaves nothing to be desired.

The new Singapore has drawn in some of the world’s best known DJs and the Ministry of Sound. Like its London division you'll find house, trance, progressive, techno and breaks here. It’s the place to be seen but, unlike its Elephant & Castle counterpart, not at all closed to a slightly older crowd who might have thought their hardcore clubbing days were behind them. In fact, the clientele is so mixed and the atmosphere unintimidating that even the relatively conservative Business Traveller magazine (a bible to so many business travellers!) was touting its virtues earlier in the year.

Fancy a boogie? Sound Bar and Enclave are your passes to the best late-night hedonism Chicago has to offer. The former has two levels and is invariably packed: downstairs plays hip-hop music and upstairs grooves to an unrelenting house beat. You can engineer your very own oasis of calm, though, by booking a table in the VIP room. The drinks are phenomenally cheap, you get waitress service and the chance to retreat if the music becomes too much or the people too raucous. Not the best club in the world, but a good laugh nonetheless. Altogether better is Enclave. This upscale location has undergone a full year of renovation: new floors, new (clean) bathrooms, new furnishings, impeccably styled bar areas, etc. And it’s been worth it. This is now the premier dance spot in Illinois, with beautiful people to match. Get a table in the circular, curtain-swathed VIP area and forget all about work.

If you’re looking for a post-dinner drink or two, the J Bar at The James is a good place to start. In harmony with the rest of the hotel, it’s sleek, sophisticated and very cool. The barmen fashion martinis with olive lollipops (so you can look like Kojak for the night) and the waiters provide appetizers from David Burke’s in-house restaurant. If you get there early enough, you might also get a seat on the attractive low-slung banquettes.

The Glamour bar on Shanghai’s bund is an amazing place. Very chi-chi with pink lighting and huge Chinese print panels, it has three huge windows that look out on the city. They sometimes have live cabaret events and the best martinis in town.