Gothic Bar promises seduction - and drinks as lethal as Dracula

SUGGESTION is the thing, isn't it? So much more seductive than out-and-out saying something. A flash in the eyes, a tilt of the head. We're not talking ill-advised fire emojis here. Take the Gothic Bar, where opening hours are kept to "till late", and "until a little later". Granted, hardly the first to do it, but when a friend is fretting if there's time for another nightcap, it's an enjoyable thing to be able to say, "well of course, tonight they're open a little later".

- David Ellis

Gothic Bar

Cocktails from £14. St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, NW1 2AR, midlandgranddiningroom.com

Seduction is the stock and trade here. The name is a hint as to its style - this is romance in the gothic mould, which is to say the mould Dracula used, all impeccable manners and candlelight. I should point out that no one here will bite your neck and drain the blood, although, admittedly, I did wake up the morning after feeling like the undead. Still, picture it: a 150-year-old vaulted room of great stone carvings, of gold leaf and velvet, of nooks and crannies. When the night draws in, it is midwinter in a castle, no matter the season. Leaves move in a ghost wind. As do waiters, gliding over unbidden at the sight of a finished drink.