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The Best Cocktail Bars in W1: Six Picks, From the World's Number 8 in Mayfair to a Negroni Bar on Old Compton Street

The best cocktail bars in W1 include one of the highest-ranked bars in the world and a handful of small Soho rooms that bartenders drink in on their nights off. We picked six across Mayfair, Marylebone's edge and Soho, and checked every address against the bar's own website on 1 November 2026. The headline is the Connaught Bar in Mayfair, ranked number 8 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2026, the highest of any London bar. Three Sheets Soho, a younger bar on a Soho side street, made the extended 51 to 100 list at number 73.

At a glance

1. Connaught Bar, Mayfair

The bar inside The Connaught hotel on Carlos Place is the most decorated in London and, for 2026, the highest-placed London bar in The World's 50 Best Bars, at number 8. It is best known for its martini trolley, which is wheeled to your table so the drink can be mixed in front of you, with a choice of house bitters. The room is calm and formal in the best sense, and service is exact. It is not a cheap night, and it is busy, so arrive early in the evening or be prepared to wait. Our Mayfair guide covers the rest of the neighbourhood around Mount Street.

2. Artesian, The Langham

Artesian, at The Langham on Portland Place opposite the BBC, topped The World's 50 Best Bars list four years running in the early 2010s and is still one of the most ambitious hotel bars in London. Expect a themed menu that changes every year or so, elaborate presentation and an opulent room. It sits at the Marylebone and Fitzrovia end of W1, a short walk from Oxford Circus, which makes it an easy choice before or after a show at the London Palladium or dinner in Marylebone.

3. Three Sheets Soho

Three Sheets started in Dalston, where brothers Max and Noel Venning built a reputation for short menus of clean, carefully balanced drinks. The Soho bar, on Manette Street off Charing Cross Road, is open seven days a week and made the extended 2026 list at number 73. It is small and relaxed, with none of the ceremony of the hotel bars, and its position a few minutes from the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road makes it a strong pre-theatre stop.

4. Swift Soho

Swift's Old Compton Street bar was the first in what is now a small group with bars in Shoreditch and Borough. Upstairs is a bright aperitivo bar known for its Irish coffee; downstairs is a darker, bookable room with a long whisky list. On Tuesdays and Sundays there is live jazz with a special menu, and there is a happy hour before 6pm from Monday to Thursday. Downstairs bookings are taken in two-hour slots, and the bar cannot book groups larger than six.

5. Bar Termini Soho

A tiny Italian bar at 7 Old Compton Street, created by the drinks innovator Tony Conigliaro, that works as a coffee bar by day and a cocktail bar by night. The draw is a short list of negronis, served with precision, alongside aperitivo drinks and simple Italian snacks. There are only a few seats, so expect to queue or book. It is a good first stop before dinner in Soho; our list of the best Italian restaurants in W1 has suggestions for what comes next.

6. Bar Américain, Brasserie Zédel

Down the stairs from Brasserie Zédel, a minute from Piccadilly Circus, Bar Américain is an Art Deco room hung with Paul Colin's lithograph posters, serving pre-Prohibition classics and its own creations. It is one of the more reasonably priced smart bars in W1. Opening hours are 5pm to midnight Monday to Thursday, 4pm to midnight on Friday, 3pm to 12.30am on Saturday and 4pm to 11pm on Sunday, with last orders at least 20 minutes before closing. A few tables are kept for walk-ins.

How to get a table

• Go early. Between 5pm and 7pm most of these bars have space; after 9pm on Thursday to Saturday, queues are likely at the hotel bars.
• Book where you can. Swift's downstairs bar and Bar Américain take bookings; the others work mostly on walk-ins, so check each bar's website first.
• Dress smart for Mayfair. The hotel bars expect smart casual; our Soho night out FAQs cover the more relaxed rules in Soho.
• Expect a service charge. Most W1 cocktail bars add a discretionary service charge of around 12.5% to 15%; it will be on the bill.

How we chose

We included bars with a W1 postcode where cocktails are the main event, and confirmed each address on the bar's own website on 1 November 2026. Rankings come from The World's 50 Best Bars 2026, announced in October 2026, and its extended 51 to 100 list. We have not quoted drink prices, which change often. For pubs rather than cocktails, see the best pubs in W1; for drinks with a view, where to drink at sunset in W1; and for comparing districts, Soho versus Shoreditch for a night out. More on the area is on the W1 London homepage.

Sources: bar websites, checked 1 November 2026: The Connaught; Artesian at The Langham; Three Sheets; Swift Soho; Bar Termini Soho; Bar Américain. Rankings: Time Out London on The World's 50 Best Bars 2026.