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The Great Canadian Hotel Bar Hop: Raw Bar at Calgary's Hotel Arts

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 119 - 12th Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
July 12, 2012 at 4:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

This is not so much a bar hop as a bar marathon that runs (get it?) the entire length of Canada. If you have the stamina, so do we.

Calgary, Alberta is Canada’s version of the wild west, where people wear cowboy boots without a hint of irony. However, this city that’s affectionately known as “cow town” has more than just beer bars scattered throughout the city.

Case in point: Raw Bar, located in the stylish Hotel Arts (formerly a Holiday Inn.) This is a moody, intimate bar with plenty of private areas for private moments. It’s warm, inviting, and has single-handedly brought a nouveau brand of cocktail culture to the city. The local clientele comes here for well-made cocktails crafted by expert mixologists, who take great pleasure in concocting fantastical creations for their appreciative fans. Hotel guests come because the bar is an appealing place to hang out – and then they discover the seasonal cocktail menu for themselves.

One fan favourite is the Derelict, an award-winning cocktail that has a base of Skyy vodka and house made pear and lemongrass nectar, topped off with lychee liqueur and pineapple. And then there’s the bewildering yet bewitching Searching North cocktail: Mount Gay rum, with peach and apricot, and the almost sweet spice of Turkish Urfa biber and hints of lemongrass. (What creative mind comes up this stuff?)

The Creole Marmalade is made with Creole Shrubb orange liqueur and fresh lime juice, shaken with the bar’s zesty grapefruit and ginger marmalade and finished with a hint of orange bitters. Delightful!

If, however, you don’t want moody and intimate at this time of year, then you’re in luck. The Raw Bar extends its menu outdoors to the popular poolside patio. This is where the cool kids hang out, drinking either made-to-order classics or selecting something from the exotic food and drinks menu. And the best part? On weekends you can listen to a DJ dish out the tunes.

Hotel Arts attracts a pretty creative group of guests from the entertainment, design and fashion industries, but is also a hit with design-conscious travelers. Rates in August start at a very, very reasonable $149 CAD for a Studio with two queen beds and go to an even more reasonable $239 for a Deluxe Suite.

[Photos: Hotel Arts]

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