Best of Boston

2011 Best Hotel Bar

The Oak Room

Some hotel bars are trendy watering holes with rooms upstairs; others are mediocre places for conventiongoers to pickle themselves. The Oak Bar is another species entirely: an escape that’s equal parts time machine (jazz piano; career bartenders doling out snack mix) and glorious splurge ($17 martinis delivered in an icy shaker; a Chateaubriand sandwich on brioche).

138 St James Ave., Boston, 617-267-5300, oaklongbarkitchen.com