Meet Me in the Bar: Classic Drinks from America's Historic Hotels

This travel guide-cum-cocktail recipe book doesn't aim to unearth hidden gems and chic new hotspots; rather, it celebrates the old school classics and their role in society, which remains au courant. Explains Connors,""the great city hotels of the past--marble palaces with richly ornamented lobbies, dining rooms that make one want to sit up straight, and proper bars--remain in a class by themselves."" Detailed discussions of the history of 36 hotels and their signature libations--recipes included--make this a great keepsake for anyone who loves the good life, or wants to create it at home. Most of the hotels included, such as New York's Carlyle, the Beverly Hills Hotel, and Boston's original Ritz Carlton, are truly legendary; some are a bit of a stretch. But the cocktails are all classics, from the Plaza's Old Fashioned to the Margarita from San Antonio's Menger Hotel. Most of the photographs, a mix of black-and-white and color, are enticing and in keeping with the book's elegant premise, although a few, such as the snapshot of Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel, appear rather dated.