The Submercer

After a five-year hiatus, this exclusive lounge located in the underbelly of the swank Mercer Hotel has re-opened—though not necessarily to the likes of you. Assuming you can navigate the scavenger hunt-like directions to find it (enter unmarked doors to the side of the hotel, ride a freight elevator down one flight, pass through two sets of doors and a wine cellar—or was it a boiler room?—before emerging in front of the heavy red entrance), muscling your way past the bouncers is guaranteed to prove difficult. Those who are A-list enough to make it inside will be greeted by plenty of well-weathered exposed brick, low red-leather banquettes and beautiful people hovering around small black circular tables in three cavernous rooms, one of which is equipped with a red stripper pole—wild! The rest of us can only close our eyes and imagine.

See more: SoHo bars, Hotel bars, Lounge bars