13 secret hotel bars that are worth seeking out

Passwords, magic numbers, parlor facades, bookcases with a hidden room… It’s all about smoke and mirrors, and hidden fun at these secret bars located within hotels. So why drink at a bar everyone already knows about, when there’s a more mysterious one hidden in the shadows (or behind a bookcase) that’s far more fun!

RELATED: 13 hotels with in-room craft cocktail programs

Break Room 86 at The Line Hotel:  Los Angeles

Break Room 86, from LA-based fraternal twins Mark and Jonnie Houston, is an ’80s-themed speakeasy inside the Line Hotel in Koreatown. Enter through a loading dock out back and down a hallway and you’ll discover a lively bar filled with vintage thrift store finds, a cassette tape wall, bars made out of speakers, multiple karaoke rooms and ace mixologists. Enjoy a boozy “push pop,” check out the live band karaoke on Tuesdays, plus Michael Jackson performers and (burlesque and break dancing) to keep the fun going.

The Library at The Grand at Moon Palace Cancun

The Library at The Grand at Moon Palace Cancun  is a hidden bar inspired by the 1920s with a vintage atmosphere. Of course, the only way to get inside is through a  secret entrance behind some library shelves. But what makes this bar really stand out are the specially curated drinks by Palace Resorts top mixologist, including the “cover club” and the “temperance tea.”

Society at Hamilton Hotel: Washington, DC

Society, which recently opened in the Hamilton Hotel in  DC, is unique in that it seats only 14. The micro-luxe hideaway is hidden by day and opened by a wall panel in the evening; it’s modeled after the Yale Skull & Bones secret society’s hidden lounge from the Prohibition era.

Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at The Cosmopolitan is new and in a class its own. It’s both a barber shop and a speakeasy. At this spot, guests can get any classic barber’s treatments and enjoy whiskeys and beer at the same time. At night, there’s a live DJ, too!

ALSO: It’s no secret—Orbitz Rewards earns you travel perks quickly!

The Spare Room at Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: Hollywood

The Spare Room is the historic Hollywood Roosevelt’s best kept secret. It’s basically a Prohibition era-style cocktail lounge and bowling alley featuring interesting menu items like the savory Salt and Vinegar Martini, as well as the sweet ice cream flavored drink, The Rumluck. The bar features two vintage bowling lanes as well as a variety of games to play. 

Sara’s at Palms Resort Casino: Las Vegas

Mabel’s BBQ, from celebrity chef Michael Symon, is housed at the Palms Resort Casino and features a secret supper club called Sara’s, featuring seating for 45, a menu of French-American dishes (Prime rib carved tableside, classic Dover sole) and an unmarked entrance you have to be in the know to find.

Room 56: Moxy San Diego

Room 56, located inside the new Moxy San Diego Hotel in the Gaslamp Quarter, is a swanky, super-secret speakeasy hidden behind a bookcase in the hotel’s mezzanine library. For exclusive access, guests need to click on a special web link, scroll to the bottom of the page and text the “code name” to the number given.  Room 56 is named for America’s founding fathers and the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Linehouse at The Lodge at Spruce Peak: Stowe, VT

Linehouse is only available to guests of The Lodge at Spruce Peak and it’s also invite only. The only way to get in is if you’re invited by the staff or you’re an owner. There is no cocktail menu. Instead, the bartenders chat with each guest to get a feel for their tastes and flavor preferences and then creates a custom cocktail based on the conversation. For the guest looking for a more traditional experience, bartenders will create cocktails that date back to when Prohibition was happening in the early 1900s, using some of the same recipes, as well as new age/cutting edge cocktails.

License No. 1 at Hotel Boulderado: Boulder, CO

Hotel Boulderado‘s lower level License No. 1 speakeasy is the holder of the first liquor license issued to a hotel bar after Boulder went wet in 1969. (Yes, Prohibition there was extra long!) This spot has Prohibition-themed libations, as well as live music and open mic nights.

Casbah at Hotel Figueroa: Los Angeles

Casbah, the hidden bar inside Downtown LA’s newly renovated historic Hotel Figueroa, is accessed via a secret passageway in the form of a martini embossed book in the bookcase. Guests residing in the Casablanca Suite can swing right into Casbah, and discover a mirrored, ultra-exclusive “party room” that can only host 22 guests at a time. Talk about exclusive!

Blind Barber at Nautilus by Arlo Hotel: Miami 

Blind Barber is inside the new Art Deco Nautilus by Arlo Hotel in Miami, and it offers more than just cocktails and a snack. It features a full barbershop and bar: You just have to literally pull back the dramatic 25-foot curtains in the lobby!

Milk Room at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel

Many of the spirits featured in Milk Room are the last of their kind in existence—once a bottle is gone, it’s gone forever. The space was once a speakeasy used by Chicago Athletic Association club members during Prohibition and Milk Room mines the past with a menu focusing on classic, spirit-forward cocktails that utilize extremely rare and vintage spirits—think 1909 Old Overholt—alongside other hard-to-find ingredients.

Tea Room at EAST, Miami

EAST, Miami’s sexy, 40th floor cocktail den flies under the radar, with a secret entrance and designated doorman. Tea Rooms’ moody Asian decor and floor-to-ceiling windows offer a 180-degree view of Downtown and Brickell that are privy only to those in the know.

Tagged: California, Cancun, Chicago, Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mexico, Miami, Midwest, Vermont