The Most Impressive Rooftop Bars in Asia

This week we are swapping International Eats for an International drinks theme and where better to enjoy a tipple than in a rooftop bar overlooking your favourite Asian city! We asked frequent business traveller Rohan Muralee to narrow the choices down to his Top 5.

Imagine being above the clouds. Imagine being above the clouds with a freshly made mojito in your hand. Imagine an evening where your biggest concern was how to protect your glass of champagne being knocked over by a sudden gust of wind, 63 floors above street level. Let your imagination take you to...

1. Sirocco Bar, Bangkok

Photo credit: Sirocco Bar Bangkok

Until you exit the lifts on the 63rd floor of The Dome at lebua and walk out of the glass doors, you have no idea what to expect from Sirocco, the worlds highest al fresco restaurant and bar. What you will find is music from the string quartet intertwining with the whistling of the wind, tables of people enjoying dinner by candlelight, and a collection of Bangkok's finest gathered around a neon blue bar. The view from the bar area is breathtaking - a vision of Bangkok which is uninterrupted and unparalleled. By Bangkok's standards, drinks here are reasonably pricey, but for the ambiance and view Sirocco is worth it!

2. New Asia Bar, Swissotel, Singapore

Photo Credit: New Asia Bar, Swissotel, Singapore

It's very difficult to find flaws in a bar that is on the 72nd floor of a Singapore skyscraper, especially when you can go even higher. The bar inside is classy, vibrant and filled with wealthy and very good-looking clientelle. Drinks are good, although priced according to the height of the bar - pretty steep! Windows, cleaned with notorious Singaporean efficiency, run from floor to ceiling over two floors and allow ample viewing of the skyline. The best bit though, is still to come. Located another three floors up on the roof is the helipad. From time to time (sometimes as often as once a month, on a Thursday), this will be opened up. Words can't really describe how being totally exposed atop Singapore's second tallest building feels. With no significant barrier to stop you falling off it's fairly spectacular! One of their helipad parties is an absolute must.

3. Café Gray Bar, Upper House Hotel, Hong Kong

Photo Credit:Café Gray Bar, Upper House Hotel, Hong Kong

On the 49th floor of the understated yet extremely impressive Upper House boutique hotel, this bar matches all the elegance the hotel has to offer, and more. The walkway from the lift bank to the bar itself is striking, and once you enter (especially in the evenings) the warm golds and browns that feature in the decoration, along with the mood lighting, make for a very suave and romantic atmosphere. Cocktails are very carefully made, very tasty and very dear. But again, it’s worth it. Wine, as with anywhere in Hong Kong, is expensive, but from experience even the house wines are of good quality. Most tables offer great views too; the shape of the building is almost serrated, meaning that wherever you sit it feels like you are at the corner of the building, and have pretty unrestricted views. To complete the experience, take a trip into the lavatories for more spectacular views from the wash basins!

4. Dome Terrace Sky Bar, Intercontinental Hotel, Mumbai

Photo Credit: Dome Terrace Sky Bar, Intercontinental Hotel, Mumbai

Where can you go, only 8 floors above the hustle, bustle and noise of Mumbai’s streets to a place where you can stare out at the seemingly endless Arabian Sea, and hear only the clink of your glass? Here. It’s not towering above all the other new buildings in Mumbai, but it’s sufficiently unique to make it worthy of a mention. Predominantly white furnishings make it very cool on the eye, as is the architectural elegance of the dome, after which the bar is named. The Intercontinental Hotel, on top of which the Dome Terrace Sky Bar sits, is right at the heart of Marine Drive, so the views of the Queens Necklace at dusk are especially beautiful.

5. Aer Bar, Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai

Photo Credit: Aer Bar, Four Seasons Hotel, Mumbai

There aren’t many places from where you can see Old Mumbai, New Mumbai, the sea, Haji Ali Mosque, the race course and all of the new skyscrapers in one go – but this is one of them. Sunset is by far the best time to arrive, if nothing else for the three hour happy hour on cocktails. On the 34th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, it has been decorated as you would expect of any Four Seasons property. Elegance is in abundance, mainly due to the fact that the design was managed by a bunch of local fashionistas. Famous local fashionistas, should I say. The scenery is fantastic, both outside the bar and in, and the music (despite the appearance of the bar) is surprisingly non-‘clubby’, but more lounge. Perfect for a few sunset cocktails.

Can you see yourself doing business in any of these bars? Check out our range of First and Business class fares to Asia and get planning that meeting.