The World’s Best Hotel Bar 2011

Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award finalists were announced earlier this month, and a Victoria Bar is up for the World’s Best Hotel Bar.

The criteria (from the tales of the Cocktail website):

“The classic ‘American Bar’ played an important role in the history and development of cocktail culture. The judges are looking for hotel bars, which uphold this tradition (but are not necessarily old) and offer five-star service and consistently well made drinks.”

The four finalists in the competition are:

• Artesian at the Langham, London, England
• Clive’s Classic Lounge at Chateau Victoria Hotel, British Columbia, Canada
• Clyde Common at the Ace Hotel, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
• The Savoy, London, England

The event will be celebrated July 20 – 24, 2011, in New Orleans, and apparently “…involves an incredible amount of information and imbibition….” The Awards Ceremony will be held on July 23, 2011, at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre.

I’m rooting for Clive’s, with a secondary choice of Clyde Common; both bars — I’m quite sure — have a much smaller budget for renovations than the two in London, and I like to see the little guy win.