American Bar

The Strand's Long Game

Hotel bars in central London divide into two categories: those that trade on postcode and interior design, and those that have built a documented record against the wider global bar industry. The American Bar at the Savoy sits in the second group, and its award trajectory makes the case plainly. It ranked in the World's 50 Best Bars every year from 2011 through 2020, reaching number one in 2017, number two in both 2016 and 2018, and number five in both 2015 and 2019. That kind of sustained presence across a decade is rare in any category of hospitality, where rankings typically reflect a venue's current momentum rather than enduring consistency. By 2025, the bar sits at number 128 in the Top 500 Bars list, which reflects the broader democratisation of the global bar scene rather than any contraction of the bar's relevance in London specifically.

The Savoy's position on the Strand matters for understanding how the bar fits into the city. The Strand has never been a neighbourhood bar corridor in the way that Soho, Islington, or Shoreditch are. It is a transit axis, a hotel and theatre district, and a place where the city's professional and cultural classes have gathered for more than a century. The American Bar occupies that environment and turns it into something that resists easy categorisation: it is formally a hotel bar, but its regulars include people who live nowhere near WC2 and make the trip specifically for the bar itself.

What the Award Record Actually Tells You

A bar that holds a top-five World's 50 Best position for multiple years is being measured against programmes in Tokyo, New York, Singapore, and Copenhagen. The ranking methodology weights industry peer votes and international editorial assessment heavily, which means sustained placement requires recognition across markets, not just strong local reputation. The American Bar's trajectory from number 20 in 2011 to number one in 2017 traces a period when London's cocktail culture was consolidating its international reputation. The bar was part of that consolidation, not merely a beneficiary of it.

For comparison, London bars in the broader award conversation during the same period included venues oriented around very different formats: the intimate, reservation-heavy model of 69 Colebrooke Row in Islington, the inventive format experimentation at A Bar with Shapes For a Name, and the structured programme approach at Academy. The American Bar's peer set is different from all of them: it operates at hotel scale, with the service infrastructure that implies, but with a drinks programme that has consistently been judged against specialist standalone bars.

The Gathering Function

The editorial angle here is not the bar as monument to its own history, but the bar as a particular kind of London gathering point. The Strand location means the American Bar draws from a wider geography than most neighbourhood bars. Theatregoers arriving early, lawyers from the Temple area, hotel guests who know their way around a cocktail list, and visitors who have made specific reservations all occupy the same room. That mix produces an atmosphere that is harder to engineer than the curation of a small specialist bar.

The 4.6 rating across more than 1,000 Google reviews is a useful data point here: it suggests a consistent experience across a genuinely broad audience rather than a highly rated but narrow clientele. Bars that function primarily as insider spaces tend to accumulate either very strong ratings from a smaller base or polarised scores. A 4.6 across 1,022 reviews at a central London hotel bar indicates that the product holds across different expectations and contexts.

That breadth connects to how the bar functions as a gathering place in the city. It is not a locals' bar in the residential sense, but it has regulars in the way that any institution does: people for whom the bar is a default location for particular occasions, business conversations, or simply an end-of-week drink that feels appropriate to the week they have had. The Savoy's centrality means those regulars are drawn from across London rather than from a single postcode.

London's Hotel Bar Tier

Within London's hotel bar hierarchy, the American Bar occupies a position that a handful of other properties compete for but few have matched in terms of sustained awards recognition. Hotel bars at this level are expected to maintain a drinks programme that can justify the price premium over standalone bars, provide service that matches the broader hotel standard, and attract a clientele that is choosing the bar as a destination rather than defaulting to it for convenience. The American Bar has done all three consistently enough to hold global rankings for a decade.

Bars with comparable hotel contexts but different geographical anchors include Bar Leather Apron in Honolulu, which operates in a similarly premium hotel-bar format in the Pacific market, and Bramble in Edinburgh, which represents the standalone specialist end of the UK bar conversation. The Amaro bar in London offers a point of comparison on the spirits-focused specialist side. These are different formats serving different functions, and the American Bar's hotel context is not a limitation but a specific kind of offering.

Planning a Visit

The American Bar is at the Savoy on the Strand, WC2R 0EZ, in central London. The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross and Temple, both within a short walk. Given the bar's international profile and central location, walk-in availability varies considerably depending on the time of day and week; evening visits, particularly before or after theatre, tend to be busiest. Contacting the Savoy directly to ask about reservations is the most reliable approach, as the booking process sits within the hotel's broader reservations infrastructure rather than through a separate bar-specific system. Dress expectations at a hotel of this tier lean towards smart casual at minimum. For a broader view of where the American Bar sits within the city's bar offering, see our full London bars guide. Those planning a wider London trip can also reference our full London restaurants guide, our full London hotels guide, our full London wineries guide, and our full London experiences guide for context across categories.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I drink at American Bar?

The bar's award record across the World's 50 Best Bars rankings from 2011 to 2020 reflects a programme that has consistently been judged against the strongest cocktail bars globally. Classic cocktails and house signatures are the core of what the bar is recognised for; the broader Savoy cocktail tradition goes back to the early twentieth century and informs the bar's approach to the canon. Ask the bartender what the bar is currently known for rather than defaulting to a drinks list category.

What's the standout thing about American Bar?

The consistency of the award trajectory is what separates it from most bars in London. Reaching number one in the World's 50 Best Bars in 2017 and holding a top-five position across multiple years places it in a very small peer group globally. In a city with a dense and competitive bar scene, that kind of documented recognition over a sustained period carries weight that single-year accolades do not.

Do I need a reservation for American Bar?

The bar is inside the Savoy, one of London's most recognised hotels on the Strand, and demand reflects both the hotel's profile and the bar's own international reputation. For evening visits or specific occasions, contacting the Savoy directly to secure a table in advance is advisable. Walk-in access during quieter periods is possible, but relying on it for a planned visit carries risk.

What kind of traveler is American Bar a good fit for?

If you are in London with an interest in how hotel bars can operate at specialist-bar level, and you want to understand what a decade of top-ten global rankings looks like in practice, this is a relevant stop. It suits visitors who are comfortable with hotel-bar pricing and service formality, and who are drawn to places with a documented position in the wider industry conversation rather than those seeking a more underground or neighbourhood-specific experience. Consider it alongside Bar Kismet in Halifax as an example of how award-recognised bars operate across very different market contexts.

Is the American Bar at the Savoy connected to the Savoy Cocktail Book?

The Savoy Cocktail Book, first published in 1930 and compiled by the Savoy's then head bartender Harry Craddock, is one of the foundational reference texts in cocktail culture, and its origins are directly tied to the American Bar. That historical connection gives the bar a documented place in the canon of Western cocktail bars that most competitors, regardless of their current programme quality, cannot replicate. It is part of why the bar's position in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings should be understood as a product of both programme quality and institutional depth.