In Las Vegas, the massive Drai's Beach Club & Nightclub opened Memorial Day weekend at the Cromwell, a new boutique hotel on the Strip. Modeled after the beach club and nightclub concepts in St. Tropez and Ibiza, the 65,000-square-foot concept is spread over two levels. The lower level has two pools, a central wet deck, and 10 V.I.P. bungalows and luxury cabanas that have their own pools. The mezzanine level has a private pool with five private V.I.P. bungalows and another 15 V.I.P. cabanas. Drai's holds as many as 4,500 for receptions.
One of New York's newest rooftop bars is Spyglass, which opened in June on the 22nd floor of the just-opened Archer Hotel in the garment district. The indoor-outdoor space from David Burke Group offers full views of the Empire State Building from sleek highboy tables or tufted purple leather barstools, a design style that mixes in references to the 1940s and 1950s. Sypglass serves small plates from the hotel's restaurant, David Burke Fabrick. It holds 115 people for receptions.
The 7,100-square-foot rooftop venue Touché Rooftop Lounge & Restaurant opened in downtown Miami in April, offering 360-degree views of the skyline. The concept is from chef Carla Pellegrino of Top Chef fame and includes a 50-seat indoor dining room with an open kitchen as well as a 225-seat outdoor lounge with a waterfall wall, fire pits, and a communal table and bar. The space is set up to accommodate DJs and live music and has audiovisual equipment including LED screens.
Bar 54 opened in New York in February with a superlative distinction: Located on the 54th floor of the newly constructed Hyatt Times Square, it's the highest rooftop bar in the city. Span Architecture designed the space, which has views of the Chrysler Building, One World Trade Center, and both the East and Hudson rivers. Julie Reiner of Mixtress Consulting created the beverage program. The 122-seat lounge has both indoor and outdoor space available for events and has outdoor fireplaces at both ends of the terrace.
IO Urban Roofscape—named for its indoor and outdoor space—is on the fourth floor of Chicago's Godfrey Hotel, which opened in February. The 10,000-square-foot venue includes a restaurant, lounge, and event space with elements including a fire pit, water elements, a video wall, and a retractable roof. It accommodates 750 people for receptions—500 outdoors and 250 indoors. A V.I.P. room holds 36.
The Colonnade Hotel’s Roof Top Pool in Boston unveiled a redesign earlier this month. The 12th-floor spot now has white cabanas, lounge seating, bamboo flooring, and a 12-seat bar. The space holds about 200 people for receptions and offers panoramic views of the Back Bay and South End neighborhoods.
At 35,000 square feet, Picnic at the Downtown Grand Las Vegas hotel is a vast space with room for a number of amenities: an infinity pool, a fire pit, a bandstand, a restaurant and bar, and private cabanas overlooking downtown Las Vegas. The rooftop venue opened this spring and holds 1,500 for receptions.
With views of the Atlantic Ocean, the rooftop at the Villa by Barton G. on Miami Beach's Ocean Drive will reopen later this summer after light renovations. The perch atop the former Versace Mansion seats 30 or holds 125 guests for receptions. The property changed ownership and reopened in March following renovations to the 10-room boutique hotel, which also includes the new Mediterranean restaurant Il Sole.
The new hotel CitizenM New York debuted a rooftop venue called Cloud Bar in April. The Midtown space has indoor and outdoor seating and a food and beverage program created by mixology firm Critical Mass. It holds 155 guests for receptions. The hotel also has a ground-floor courtyard and two terraces on the mezzanine level.
BO-beau Kitchen & Roof Tap—a play on its rooftop location—opened in May in a restored 1930s-era Art Deco building in downtown Long Beach, California. It's the first Los Angeles County venture for the San Diego-based Cohn Restaurant Group, which imported the original BO-beau's “bohemian industrial chic” aesthetic. The venue's 14,000-square-foot footprint includes the downstairs kitchen and the second-story bar that has a total of 50 beers, wines, and cocktails. The rooftop seats 161 or holds 200 for receptions.
Overlooking the Hudson River and the skyscrapers of Times Square, the Attic Rooftop & Lounge opened in New York's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in June. The bilevel venue covers 5,000 square feet—an indoor-outdoor rooftop space on the building's 16th floor that holds 450 guests and a glass-enclosed lounge on the 15th floor that holds 150. Each floor has its own bar and DJ booth. The design from Marc Dizon has a silver, grey, and white color palette and incorporates banquette seating that could be used for V.I.P. areas.
Refinery Rooftop, atop the Refinery Hotel in New York's garment district, offers views of the Empire State Building and Midtown skyline. The 3,500-square-foot space has three sections: an indoor area, a terrace, and an indoor-outdoor patio with a retractable glass roof. It is open year-round. The rooftop seats 75 or holds 240 for receptions and has a dedicated kitchen, audiovisual equipment, and an area for a step-and-repeat.
As part of an $18 million expansion, the Inn on Fifth in Naples, Florida, expanded into a building across from the main inn called Club Level Suites. The new space includes 32 suites as well as a landscaped rooftop with a hot tub and lounge seating. The space holds 60 for receptions.
