Smoked Lapsang Souchong hot chocolate arrives with warm panettone at Passalacqua on Lake Como. In Malta, cinnamon-and-nutmeg tequila goes into a Christmas Margarita, while Cape Town’s summer celebrations call for a Boulevardier beside the marina.
Hotels are bringing distinctly local ingredients and rituals to their festive drinks this year. These 12 experiences range from cocktails high above Tokyo to an alcohol-free alpine serve and herbalist-created winter teas in Nice, with dates and booking details to help plan a visit.
1. Smoked hot chocolate at Passalacqua, Lake Como
Passalacqua has made smoked Lapsang Souchong hot chocolate the centrepiece of its winter merenda, an afternoon ritual at the 24-suite, eighteenth-century villa above Moltrasio. The drink comes with warm panettone and zabaione, plus marshmallows toasted over the fire.
JJ Martin’s Christmas tree provides the seasonal backdrop, while the hotel’s pool becomes a floating ice-skating rink overlooking Lake Como, with outdoor lounges and firepits around it. The winter programme also includes fire-roasted chestnuts, cookie workshops and cocktail classes featuring hot and cold drinks.
Passalacqua remains open through 3 January. B&B room rates start from €1,210 per night, plus VAT and other taxes.
2. Mistletoe Margarita at Casa Bonavita, Malta
Casa Bonavita’s Mistletoe Margarita starts with tequila infused for 24 hours with cinnamon and nutmeg. Cranberry juice, Cointreau and coconut milk follow, before the drink is hard shaken and strained over a single ice cube containing a rosemary twig.
The setting is a Baroque palazzo dating to 1715 in Attard, restored over seven years by Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, founders of The Rug Company. Its Valletta Bar has low lighting and bespoke, hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper depicting Malta’s capital in the 1600s.
The cocktail costs €16 and is available from 22 November to 6 January. Rooms start from €390 per night with breakfast.
3. Japanese-Italian cocktails at Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo
Andrea Minarelli, Head of Mixology at Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo, brings Japanese ingredients to Italian classics on the 45th floor. His Roasted Negroni uses Bombay Sapphire infused with genmaicha; Kiaro o Kuro? combines Ki No Bi gin, pink and green pepper cordial and smoked umeshu.
The Bvlgari Bar takes its design inspiration from a historic Italian garden pavilion and sits between two rooftop terraces. The hotel’s festive plans include Pizza Bar pairings and bespoke cocktails, followed by a New Year’s Eve countdown with free-flowing Krug Champagne and skyline views.
Evening entry is walk-in, subject to availability, with priority for hotel guests. External guests must be at least 20 from 6pm; drink-only seat reservations aren’t available.
4. Manor Roots at Giraffe Manor, Nairobi
Walter Kinuthia, Giraffe Manor’s mixologist and sommelier, has created Manor Roots around the property’s shamba, or kitchen garden. Nairobi-distilled Procera Blue Dot Gin, made with Kenyan juniper, meets freshly pressed sugarcane juice and a lemongrass-and-ginger shrub macerated for 48 hours.
Fresh lime supplies the citrus, with egg white or aquafaba giving the drink a silky finish. The manor’s bar sits beside the library in the Historic Manor House, while the gardens offer the possibility of visits from resident Nubian giraffes, which may appear morning and evening before returning to the forest sanctuary.
Plan this drink around a stay at Giraffe Manor. Rates start from US$1,413 per person, full board, including arrival and departure transfers.
5. Penhaligon’s Matcha cocktail at The Lanesborough, London
The Lanesborough’s Withdrawing Room pairs festive decorations by Wild About Flowers with a new Penhaligon’s signature Matcha cocktail. Served in the fragrance house’s William Green Pantone shade, it forms part of a cream tea with freshly baked scones, clotted cream, preserves and festive teas.
The Penhaligon’s Festive Cream Tea costs £77 per person and includes a discovery gift set of eight fragrances, among them Halfeti and Luna. It runs from 5 November 2026 to 6 January 2027.
Penhaligon’s also has a Gifting Suite in residence at the hotel, with fragrances, candles and gifts available alongside the seasonal collaboration.
6. Suka Bersama at Bawah Reserve, Indonesia
Bawah Reserve’s 12 Days of Bawah runs from 24 December to 4 January, with a new cocktail each day inspired by a different Indonesian region. Christmas Day brings the Borneo-inspired Suka Bersama, combining gin, calamansi and peppermint cordial. On New Year’s Eve, Pendar features pomegranate and lime cordial.
Christmas dinner takes place at rainforest-canopy restaurant Tree Tops, beneath vaulted bamboo architecture, with four family-style courses and a Papua dance. New Year’s Eve’s white-dress gala includes king crab with beurre blanc and caviar, and pumpkin ravioli with white truffle.
Bawah’s published rates list peak-season suites from US$2,280 per night. A five-night minimum applies from 27 December to 5 January. Meals, snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are included; alcohol costs extra.
7. Freddy’s Winter Sour at De L’Europe, Amsterdam
Freddy’s Bar introduces a port-rich Winter Sour this December, made with five-year-aged Rogge Jenever from historic Amsterdam distillery Wynand Fockink. Ruby and tawny port, fresh lemon and a little sugar syrup complete the mixture.
The drink is shaken with ice, then again without, creating an egg-white foam finished with freshly grated nutmeg. De L’Europe sits beside the Amstel, and Freddy’s has live jazz; the bar takes its name from Alfred ‘Freddy’ Heineken.
The Winter Sour costs €18 and is available throughout December. Freddy’s operates on a walk-in basis, without reservations, opening at 4pm Monday to Thursday and noon Friday to Sunday.
8. Boulevardier at Cape Grace, Cape Town
Cape Grace puts the Boulevardier forward for Christmas in high summer, when Bascule Bar’s marina-side tables offer a waterfront setting for evening drinks. Inside, Bascule’s warm timber interiors form part of the hotel’s redesigned drinking and dining spaces.
American whiskey replaces the Negroni’s gin, joined by Campari and two sweet vermouths, Antica Formula and Dolin Rouge. An orange twist finishes the rich, bittersweet drink.
Bascule’s daily service runs from noon to midnight, with small plates, South African wines and guided whisky tastings alongside cocktails. Cape Grace room rates start from £824 per night.
9. Festive Glow at DAS EDELWEISS, Austria
DAS EDELWEISS Salzburg Mountain Resort has created an alcohol-free Festive Glow in collaboration with BIOGENA AESTHETICS. Cherry, thyme, hibiscus and cranberry give it a fruity, floral profile, with the brand’s formula of vegan hyaluronic acid, biotin and antioxidants added to the drink.
The Großarl Valley resort combines skiing with a 7,000-square-metre Mountain Spa, spread across five floors with separate family and adults-only areas. Its Advent programme includes harp music, cookie baking and torchlight walks, plus chestnuts, campfires and mulled wine on the terrace.
The hotel welcomes staying and day guests to its dining venues and Alpine Lounge. Room rates start from £525, including half-board.
10. Red Love Martini at The Newt in Somerset
The Newt’s Red Love Martini uses the estate’s limited-edition gin, stirred with vermouth and served ice-cold. Its defining ingredient is juice from the Red Love apple, pressed just once a year and combined with botanicals inspired by the gardens.
The estate says each handmade batch of Red Love Gin develops its own colour. Small-batch Somerset distilling and the annual apple harvest give this Martini its connection to the landscape around the hotel.
The cocktail is available across The Newt throughout the festive season. B&B stays start from £795 per night for two, including garden, estate and spa access, and a 12-month Newt Membership.
11. Nollaig Royale at The Doyle Collection
The Doyle Collection’s partnership with Waterford brings a gingerbread-and-Champagne cocktail to its festive programme across London, Dublin, Cork and Washington, D.C. Nollaig, the Irish word for Christmas, supplies the name.
The Nollaig Royale pairs Belvedere vodka with gingerbread syrup flecked with edible gold, topped with chilled Champagne. Two sprays of mandarin aroma are added at the table, and the drink is presented in a Waterford Lismore Flute.
The group’s seasonal programme also includes crystal installations at The Marylebone, The Kensington and The Bloomsbury. In Cork, The River Lee offers a two-night suite package with a private chauffeured visit to the House of Waterford.
12. Herbalist’s winter drinks at Hôtel du Couvent, Nice
Hôtel du Couvent’s resident herbalist, L’Herboristerie du Couvent, has created a Christmas infusion and Christmas tea for the hotel’s winter menu, launching on 1 December. The herbalist sits beside the cloister and a 2.5-acre garden containing more than 300 plant species.
The former convent’s seasonal selection also includes mulled wine, golden latte, cinnamon cappuccino, hot apple juice, chai and chaud cacao. Tea Time pairs hot drinks with pastries, while cinnamon rolls, palmiers and gingerbread add to the winter menu.
The hotel’s bar and terraces provide indoor and outdoor seating. On 19 December, La Cour des Orangers hosts a Christmas market with artisans, producers and the hotel’s bakers.
