Wetbar

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been here but I enjoyed it while I did. A friend of mine loves all the Randy Gerber W hotel bars for some odd reason. ok well maybe it’s the type of drinks and the female wait staff. On a weeknight it’s pretty chill. not sure what drove it out of business but I’m sure some new hip joint will pop up soon.

Spare yourself. I really dislike hotel bars to begin with, but I was willing to give it a chance. Unfortunately, there were several issues with the overall experience:
It was too dark to see anything and too loud, so unless you like playing charades in the dark, you might find this a bit frustrating.
Red velvet cupcakes are one thing, but red velvet couches are quite another. Maybe I’m abnormal, but bordello-​chic is not my idea of a good time.
It is too cold. This really goes against the whole atmosphere which presumably is meant to encourage high levels of female bare-​shoulderedness.
To be fair, the cocktails were good though pricey. The calamari was excellent.

Great after-​dinner place for tête-​à-​tête makeout sessions on a plush couch or for large groups to have a fun private party w/​o paying for it. It is dark enough to have a sense of privacy around its walls and corners, and doesn’t get too crowded so a large group could make it into a club as W has a nice music line (no DJ, top 40 tracks). Great, personalized service and hot waitress appropriately (or inappropriately if you get my drift) dressed.
Agree with other reviewers about somewhat challenging pick-​up scene — there are plenty of targets but one would be out of place with a proactive approach; don’t come alone for sure, but if you come with a friend, you can try «we are so fun that we don’t need anybody» technique and see if you get curious looks

Came here with an old buddy to catch up, so we were looking for a nice place that wasn’t too loud. We had some tasty drinks, although it was a little on the expensive side. The décor was definitely trademark W — dark, sexy, and modern. Overall, I think it’s not as bad as what some of the other reviews say. Compared to the W Hotel bar in SF, this one is pretty low-​key.
In terms of the crowd, I didn’t think it’s any less friendly than your normal NYC crowd anyway. We were able to meet some interesting gals, and all in all, it wasn’t a bad night.
I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to hit this place up, but I also think it’s not as bad as people here say it is.

Downed 4 scotches for the night and averaged out $ 16 – 17 a drink after tips.
They have the tiniest flat screens tuned to sports. This crowds all the action to the bar because people can’t see from far away.
Don’t go there to make friends, bring your own.
The fun part. I wrecked the whole pretentious atmosphere by being the only person wearing sneakers, jeans, and a tee shirt in there.

*****Think of this place as ‘Meet for a Drink’ *****
BUT its def. not a place to go ahead and try to pick someone up… or go with your date for a great night out.
The atmosphere is exactly what all W products are like– sleek, sexy, cool and way too expensive for what it is. In fact its so overpriced, its almost laughable.

A very chill, up-​sophistique place that is an extension off of the W in this location, it’s dark with random spotlights and seating is… less than comfortable. This appears to be mostly a date make-​out place, and drinks tend towards the expensive end. A slightly classier version of a hotel bar, I suppose.
They didn’t have anyone carding, either, unusual on a Friday night. There were a few booths, but for the most part, random ottomans and couches all over were the seating spaces, and not much of dancing or anything other than schmoozing or making out going on. Looks more like a pre-​gaming spot than anything, or somewhere you’d take a date to for a bit.

I’ve been here a couple of times; it’s always über dark, but interesting people and fairly strong drinks.
As with all W products– fairly expensive for what it is

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
Went here for a first date. She selected it.
The place has just an acceptable look. Nothing special. A long bar and little nooks along the wall with couches. That’s where we sat. The waitresses wear black tops and black short skirts and look like flight attendants on Iron Man’s private jet. The cocktails were decent but not notable.
At some point my date said she could determine a lot by the way a man kisses, so I obliged with what I thought was a good sample, long, slow and soft. But she let me know that her taste ran more to the hard. So I tried it again; this time much more firmly and aggressively, pressing her back on the couch. She responded in kind and before I knew it, we were making out passionately in front of everybody, hands everywhere. No one however seemed to even notice. So, to me, that seems to be worth a star. If I have a good time at a place, I figure they deserve at least partial credit.

I’m young, I’ll admit it. So if Wetbar has existed since the late 90’s then in my opinion, the décor has held up well.
It has a very classy feel in here but the whole «I have a dress shirt with a little bit of texture and/​or color, tucked into my dress pants» male crowd and the «I’m relatively cute but these waitresses make me look plain» female patrons didn’t do it for me.
Combine that with a lackluster bar menu and expensive drinks and this place goes from really cool looking to kinda lame when you actually take the time to look around. DO NOT get the Chicken Kebabs unless you like your chicken kebabs to have sex with a giant vat of cumin and not shower afterwards. On the plus side, the sliders were delicious and medium rare and super juicy.
To reiterate: Waitress’ are really hot. Cleavage for the win!
I was going to give two stars, but they were nice and let us have a lounge table since it was reserved for people coming in hours later. That was nice and accommodating.

This place sounded suspiciously familiar when my friend suggested coming here after the Unilocal Elite event. Apparently homework was second tier to «being naughty» (read — drinking more).
So we wandered in the wrong direction first. Then asked some dude for directions, which he kindly gave us.
When we finally ended up here, I realized I’ve been here before. Only because I was in the area. Which did not bode well.
The bar was pretty empty and although I wanted to like the red plush couches and the «me so sexy» feel of the place, I couldn’t. It’s not spectacular (I think it’s past it’s prime), the drinks are OK and the crowd is, well, a weird mix of out-​of-​town and after work.
Like Amber J. says, it’s a good place to «just chill out over a drink» but definitely not a destination (unless you’re already tipsy).
The 3^rd star is for the fact that it’s a decent make out place for those who are in the mood to make out. I am sure you can find another place, but this one will do in a pinch. I only say this because both times I’ve been here I’ve seen people making out with impunity. No, I’m not a voyeur — they were exhibitionists.

Came here awhile back for an Fashion Week afterparty — it was lame then and lame now.
The DJ must be a real fruit since who the hells plays this much fruity music in one night?
The business clad people there are even trying to get down with this type of music?
*YAWN*
Boring people, boring music, and boring venue!
But they do have AC!!!

Wetbar has been the same for years… how many years? I’d say about 7.
The bar is so dimly lit, it’s difficult to see anyone, and so darn loud, it’s hard to hear as well. There are small tables and cushions on the wall across the bar.“
Then there’s that room off the bar which has a fireplace and you can hear more easily. There are couches and large cushions (which become difficult to sit on after a while!) to lounge on… silvers, bronzes, browns, and blacks are in the décor.
The (ladies’) restroom is standard but lacks hand towels and the typical tolietries & attendant you see in any lounge/​club in Manhattan on the weekend. It’s also very dimly lit so don’t plan on getting a good look at what you look like and primping… then again, Wetbar is so darned dark, it won’t matter!
The first time I ever went to Wetbar was on a blind date… a BAD blind date. It was the first and only time I walked out on a date. That said, there are several entrances and exits… one goes into Wetbar. The lobby is right through a curtain so that’s another entrance and exit. And then across the lobby is Icon (a restaurant) which also has a way out. :)

Well, first off they scanned my ID when I walked in so I knew it was going to be a young, college crowd — ugh! Not cool.
Didn’t even realize it was a W bar until I walked around to see the lobby. People were young, kind of ethnic, hard to get a drink, and music was old Beyonce and Britney (top 40 from like 2 yrs ago) — won’t be going back! Don’t waste your time.

Since it’s in the neighborhood where I work, I can see the potential of it being a happy-​hour-​and-​meet-​your-​friends-​before-​heading-​somewhere-​more-​your-​speed kind of place. But the men there make me uncomfortable. Case in point written out below:
(Guy looms around behind me. I am currently situated between him and the bar.)
Me: Oh, am I in your way? Did you need to order?
Him: Why? Am I making you uncomfortable or something?
Me: (pretend to ignore comment, then, feeling uncomfortable, start to dwell on the irony of it.)
Guy: (after being ignored for several minutes, wanders away in search of alternative prey.)
Still, I was able to have a nice conversation with my friend (I could hear her), the place is clean and polished, the bathrooms are cool, and it wasn’t over-​the-​top crowded, and this was on a Friday night. Drinks are priced around $ 10-​$ 13.

+ they have pastis
— they don’t quite know how to serve it

I am guessing there have been several sociological experiments on the effects of placing a relatively smart, hardworking kid in the company of a large number of relative duds in a classroom setting. I would hypothesize that five things would generally be observed:
1) The smart kid would end up looking even smarter
2) The classroom average would continue to be poor
3) Eventually the smart kid would lose his/​her luster
4) The rest of the kids continue to be lazy as ever
5) The classroom doesn’t attract other smart kids
There is a little bit of this dynamic with The Wetbar at this Murray Hill «classroom» location, that is chock-​full of blah restaurants and bars, that are filled to the brim with post-​frat, GVer-​wannabes. The Wetbar is likely the lone smart one in this ugly mix.
The Wetbar is über-​cool, being an extension of the W Hotel. Dimmed lights with a red tint, staff dressed in all black, a stylish selection of drinks, and comfortable seating, contribute to its appeal.
But one star has to be sacrificed for the location – Murray Hill. And another star for the weekday evening patrons – the universally-​feared «Murray Hill» crowd.