Lodging

Hotel and resort bars, often serving as epicenters for the properties, allow you to scope out and mingle with your fellow travelers. In the Disney area, you’re guaranteed an international crowd. In downtown Orlando, you’ll meet businessmen from across the country; you may hear accents, but probably not other languages. It adds up to more travel for your money if, with one trip, you meet globetrotting characters with wildly colorful stories. !Salud!

3. Red Fox Lounge in the Best Western Mt. Vernon, Winter Park, Florida
Beloved by hipsters and low-key locals, this bar is perhaps best known for Mark Wayne and Lorna Lambey, the lounge singers who take the stage starting at 8 p.m. every night but Sunday.

What to order Dirty martini
Average drink price $5.50

111 S. Orlando Ave.
Winter Park, FL 32789
407-647-1166

2. Todd English’s Blue Zoo Lounge in the Dolphin Hotel, Disney World, Kissimee, Florida

Disney's Blue Zoo Lounge

Ultra chic, hip and modern, it’s the kind of bar best appreciated if you have a padded expense account.

What to order Zooberry
Average drink price $13

1500 Epcot Resorts Boulevard
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
888-828-8850

1. Bosendorfer Lounge in the Grand Bohemian Hotel, downtown Orlando, Florida
The elements that define a memorable hotel bar—stiff drinks, a steady of supply of suited strangers whose business seems just intriguing enough, and bartenders who know when not to ask your name—converge at this dimly lit, uber classy bar. Like a good cocktail, the Bosendorfer lounge always delivers the right mix of people to keep the night interesting.

What to order The Boheme, Rhapsody in Red
Average drink price $9 (martinis are $12)

325 S. Orange Ave.
Orlando, FL 32801
407-313-9000

Special thanks to MarkHillary for the inviting shot of the Blue Zoo Lounge.