The Salon Lounge

Blythswood Square may be known as a stylish, upmarket hotel but on the first floor of the Regency-era building on the eponymous square, anchored in Glasgow's city centre grid, you find one of the best cocktail bars around: The Salon. It not only attracts a smart crowd but also cocktail enthusiasts and mixology-watchers who come to see what the bar staff might create next. Ice is hand-cracked, fruit is freshly cut or squeezed while if you want to share in the wisdom of the house, its Cocktail Book is available for sale. Alternatively you could just ask the bartender what orgeat syrup is and why it's in your Mai Tai. Cocktail refuseniks can have a pint of St Mungo lager from Glasgow's West Brewery instead, or a nice, smooth Woodford Reserve bourbon served neat.