These 8 hotel rum bars are worth a shot (or a mai tai or mojito)
Summer may feel like it's winding down, but that doesn't mean there's not enough time for another drink or two. Is there a better summer spirit than rum?
Luckily, the key ingredient in so many tropical cocktails — including rum punch, mojitos and mai tais — gets its day to shine on Aug. 16. That's National Rum Day, in case you missed the memo.
It's rare that a hotel has a dedicated in-house rum bar, but we've done the legwork to lead you to some stellar spots if an on-site rum bar is among your preferred hotel amenities.
From a swim-up bar in Hawaii to a surprise rooftop spot in Ohio, these are some of our favorite hotel bars where rum rules every day.
Kane Tiki Bar & Grill
It's a no-brainer that rum is best enjoyed by the beach. At the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort, you can do just that — steps from the Gulf of Mexico. The Kane Tiki Bar & Grill has the requisite palm-thatched roof over a long granite bar and an open-air, tropical vibe that brings a bit of Bali (the bar's inspiration) to Southwest Florida.
The extensive rum list pulls from all over the Caribbean, Latin America and beyond, so this is the place to try something new (perhaps a Venezuelan rum or one from Mauritius or Guyana). Purists go for tasting flights, but there are lots of fruity cocktails, too, and the menu's selection of Indonesian street foods pad the drinking.
How to book: Cash rates at the JW Marriott Marco Island start as low as $499 a night but tend to be more expensive as the summer winds down. Marriott Bonvoy members can snag an award night for 70,000 points per night though most nights cost closer to 100,000, thanks to the brand's dynamic pricing.
Related: TPG's 15 favorite hotel bars around the world
Rumbar
Miami offers no shortage of hangouts to capture that Old Havana feeling. If you've come for rum, then seek out the lobby lounge Rumbar at The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami.
The liquor selection here covers more than 85 varieties of rums, piscos and cachacas (none of them Havana Club from Cuba, of course, but many other countries are represented). The bar is big on vintage Cuba vibes, though, with palmetto ceiling fans spinning lazily, rich dark woods and old-school photos on the walls. The quintessential cocktail to order if you want to conjure Hemingway in Havana is El Floridita, made with Ron Cartavio 12-year-old rum from Peru, orange flower water and guava nectar.
How to book: Cash rates at The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami start at $440 a night. Award nights cost between 50,000 and 70,000 points per night for Marriott Bonvoy members.
Related: 7 Florida hotels that feel like the Caribbean
Blackwell Rum Bar
Accessed by a staircase carved from coral rock that leads right down to the water's edge, the Blackwell Rum Bar in Negril, Jamaica, could make anyone feel like a proper pirate. Seated at a bar inside a cave with the Caribbean Sea thumping below natural windows carved by the elements into the rocky walls, you can sip the island's top rums, including Blackwell Black Gold Fine Jamaican Rum (founded by Chris Blackwell of Island Records fame).
The bar is just one reason to love The Caves, an adults-only cliffside resort in Negril's West End with just 12 cottage-style accommodations and a grand villa overlooking the turquoise water.
How to book: Cash rates at this Instagram-worthy property start at $490 a night and most dates require a two-night minimum stay.
Related: Why all-inclusive resorts are more attractive than ever
RumFire Bar and Barmacy
When the 151-room Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica opened astride Cabrits National Park in 2019, it became Nature Island's first true five-star resort. To make up for the small black-sand beach, the property went all-out on its pools (including a lap pool, spa pool, adults-only pool and main pool) and invested heavily, too, in what's easily one of the best hotel rum bars in the Caribbean.
RumFire Bar is a sweeping terrace with fire pits and lounge areas overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Just inside, at the Barmacy, you can pick your poison from a wall of Dominican rums infused with local herbs, spices and fruit (passion fruit, mango, star fruit, cinnamon and more) that are said to have curative qualities. Sounds a lot like drinking virtuously.
How to book: Cash rates at this Kempinski resort start around $375 a night.
Related: 29 of the most beautiful hotel pools around the world
Strong Water Tavern
You could almost suspend disbelief and imagine you were sipping rum someplace more island-y than Orlando at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando.
The huge selection of island rums, customizable as flights if you can't decide, is that good — especially the impressive range of rhum agricole (made from free-running sugar cane juice) from the French Caribbean, including Martinique and Guadeloupe. Strong Water Tavern has a great selection of rum-based cocktails and punches and a "rum specialist" is on hand to help you find your winning drink. The menu's shared plates add to the conviviality of things, with aguachiles, grilled octopus and seafood tostadas among the selections.
How to book: Cash rates at this hotel start around $250 a night.
Related: Why you might want to rethink that Florida theme park trip
Dr. Mai Tai's
A swim-up rum bar. Now that's genius. Dr. Mai Tai's at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina is a vintage-style cocktail van that hugs the edge of the resort's infinity pool. It's helmed by an "on-call cocktail doctor" who proffers "rum-infused prescription elixirs." Sign us up as new patients.
On the menu for sipping in your swimsuit is a range of tropical cocktails made with coconut and pure cane rums from Hawaiian distilleries and other island ingredients, like macadamia nut syrup, passion fruit and hibiscus.
How to book: Four Seasons resorts are usually on the pricier side — and this one is no exception. Cash rates usually are upwards of $600 a night but on peak dates are closer to $900 or $1,000 a night.
Rum Runners
Guests at Captain Don's Habitat — one of the most famous scuba-diving hotels in Bonaire, the shore-diving capital of the world — rinse off from the ocean and make straight for the waterfront tables at Rum Runners to sip something frosty.
The King Rincon is the one to try, made with Bonaire's own Rom Rincon (made with the island's abundant flora, the kadushi cactus), white chocolate and mango.
How to book: Cash rates at Captain Don's Habitat start at $191 a night for double occupancy in the summer and $243 per night for double occupancy in the winter.
Related: The 10 best secret beaches in the Caribbean
Vaso
Land-locked Ohio may not spring to mind as a rum bar destination. But surprise yourself with the impressive selection at Vaso, the rooftop bar overlooking the Scioto River at the AC Hotel Columbus Dublin.
While not technically a rum bar, this one is making our list thanks to its transporting urban setting paired with an excellent rum selection of more than 35 varieties that include Plantation from Fiji and Santa Teresa 1796 from Venezuela, in addition to all of the Caribbean mainstays and niche bottles. There's always a featured Tiki cocktail on the menu here, too, to make you feel far from, well, Ohio, for starters.
How to book: Cash rates start at $170 a night. Marriott Bonvoy members can trade in 24,000 to 30,000 points a night for an award stay.