The Connaught Bar — Restaurant in London

My experience last night at Connaught Bar only reinforces my long-held suspicion that most of the voters for the World's 50 Best Bars have never been guests at the bars they vote for. How else to explain the elevation of this extremely mediocre hotel bar to the top spot two years running?

With a no reservation policy, it can take a good hour to get seated in the fairly anonymous main bar area. Once we'd finally got in, our table of six decided to keep things simple and opt for a round of Martinis from the famous Martini cart. This necessitated an unadvertised twenty-five minute wait while the Martini cart made the rounds. By the time it arrived we had been waiting 45 minutes for our first round, not counting the hour it took to get through the door.

There's some fun theatre in the way the drinks are prepared in front of you, though much of it is just that: theatre. I'm sure there is some eye-rolling justification for the very particular way the drinks are long-poured and simultaneously spritzed in a circling motion with lemon zest, but by the time this elaborate technique has been performed six times, the Martinis are no longer ice cold. They were tasty enough, but seriously: priorities, people. A Martini needs to be drunk cold.

What really wasn't great was when one of our number had about a third of his drink—£36 each, including the unannounced surcharge for Connaught's homemade gin and the 12.5% service charge—spilled over him. Accidents happen, and that's not the problem. But although napkins were forthcoming, no offer was made to remake the drink or comp it; we had to ask for this specifically, which necessitated our waiter going to "check" with his colleague, presumably to make sure his guest wasn't lying. (After eventually agreeing it would be comped, we still found it on our bill at the end of the evening and had to ask again for it to be removed.)

A little later, three of us decided we'd have another drink just to see what the rest of the menu was like. I ordered a Crescendo, which can only be described as a Sazerac served long. It was somehow both overly watery and overly sweet. My companions didn't seem especially keen on their cocktails either. We'd earlier had a round of drinks at the Red Room around the corner while we waited for our table in the main bar; these were also unexceptional, with a lot of ingredients adding up to little in the way of distinctive character.

At the end of the evening, our bill came to over £400 for thirteen drinks. Unforgivably, that included nearly £40 worth of water. Water should always be freely available to guests in a cocktail bar—it's there for guests' comfort, and to prevent them from getting hungover. Charging extra for water in a cocktail bar is like charging extra for cutlery in a restaurant. (But no wonder the Perrier-sponsored World's 50 Best Bars awards likes the Connaught so much.)

Here's the thing with overpriced bars. The premium you are paying—these drinks cost no more than perhaps £3 each to make in terms of actual ingredients, so the margin on them is enormous—creates a heightened expectation for the evening. Anything that detracts from that experience is going to be amplified, roughly in proportion to the markup on the drinks. If you go to the American Bar at the Savoy, you will absolutely overpay for the drinks, but they will at least be very tasty, impeccably served, and accompanied by live jazz piano in a very inviting space. It's not value for money, but neither does it feel insulting. The Connaught Bar, on the other hand, is an unattractive room overlit on one side and underlit on the other, with pop music piped in over the speakers, a decidedly ordinary drinks menu and service that simply cannot afford to slip up. For us,...

Ranked fairly consistently one of the Top Bars in the world. Okay, VERY misleading. A friend told me so I had just had to check it while I was in London. The Connaught Hotel, while stunning and elegant from the outside, the bar is quite small and honestly, cannot see anything special about it.

There were at least two bars that I could tell and the "main" bar is a bit of a wait. When I looked inside, it was easy to see why. It is incredibly small and groups of people come in and dominate the few tables/sitting areas there are. And it seems most of the people who come here are "dressed to impress".

I ordered an old fashion with Blanton bourbon. My first clue should have been the servers reaction when I asked for an old fashioned with Bourbon. She gave an expression as if she had never heard this before. When I received the drink, it was in an odd egg shaped glass not in a traditional high ball glass. There were small ice cubes, not even clear ice, unlike the traditional large single clear ice cube. There was no orange slice garnish and no dark cherry garnish. I'm not convinced they used Blanton's as requested and if they did, it was one of the weakest old fashioned drinks I have ever had.

My friend had a gin drink which ironically did come in a traditional high ball glass with the single large clear ice cube. For a snack, they provided green olives and some type of pretzel. Apparently they also have food items but when asked, we weren't given any type of menu or offered the ability to order food.

The only thing I enjoyed was the other room where we were seated, had an open roof with a nice view when you looked up (providing it is a clear day).

I have no idea why this place has this reputation for such a great bar when they cannot even make a decent drink such as an old fashioned. I have traveled all over the world and it's a mystery how this place can hold such a ranking as I know there are better places in London to get a drink. It seems more like a place where no one wants to say what they are thinking since everyone else raves about it.

Don't waste your time and money. The drinks are not even "okay" and there is nothing special about the bar. It's quite elegant, but I really don't care how proper the servers are and the look of the interior if the...

I first came here in November last year and had a lovely time because we had Charlie serving us. He is brilliant and as I found out, trained and came from Claridges. We had a lovely time and he made us feel welcome and like we belonged.

Other staff members were also friendly and engaging such as Selena and Alessandro.

However, on the five other occasions I returned it didn't always feel nice. I would have a drink, but it always felt a bit flat and there is a really tall white dude who never smiles and just aggressively pours your champagne for you without any interaction. I have also found him laughing at me on occasion, which was truly notable when I came after Stevie Nicks to just say hello to Charlie.

Honestly, no one in Claridges would ever treat me like this.

I was greeted warmly by the Italian (beard and glasses) when he saw me on Friday only because I made a point in April that I did not like how I was made to feel or treated given I'm a frequent visitor of this very expensive establishment. He apologised, accepted my feedback and I left it at that.

But Friday is now the third strike and I am never going back.

I was treated poorly, transported from one bar to another table only after mentioning that I am a frequent customer here and I do know that there are places available for us. So why aren't you accommodating? I boldly asked as the lady named Maria (who stared at me strictly if my outfit of leggings and Hellfest t-shirt plus really smart trainers after seeing Stevie Nicks) if I was being judged? She said no...but I knew I was.

When we finally had a spot on a stool, we avoided a bottle of champagne we usually purchase for cocktails. Adam served us and he was great. Attentive and tried to socialise a little.

But for me, it's now too little too late.

Thank you Charlie, the two Italians, the fantastic Japanese barman and the two ladies Selena and someone else whose names escapes me... I appreciated your kindness.

Also, the toilets are shocking compared with Claridges with NO DISABILITY access when I asked. Appalling.

Such a shame as this place could have been a fantastic...