Rooftop season: five bars above the skyline

Why the first issue starts on a roof

The Guest List is a night about meeting people. Eighty guests, two drinks in, and a host whose job is to introduce you. For that to work, a room has to give you three things: a volume you can talk over, enough light to see a face, and somewhere to stand that is away from a dance floor.

A rooftop gives you all three, and one more. The skyline does part of the work. Two strangers looking at the same view already have something to say, and an open terrace lets a group of four drift together without anyone crossing an empty floor to do it.

So Issue 01 is set for a rooftop or cocktail bar in BGC or Makati. These are five bars above the skyline that shape how we think about that night.

Five roofs

Antidote, I'M Hotel. On the edge of Poblacion, and the largest on this list. The hotel lists it for up to 300 guests, with cocktail set-ups of 120 and 110. That is a lot of room for a rooftop bar, and it means a hosted night of eighty would have space to breathe.

Straight Up, Seda BGC. The rooftop bar of the Seda hotel in BGC. A hotel roof in the middle of the district, with the rest of a BGC night close by when you come back down.

O2 Rooftop, Brittany. Another BGC roof, at the Brittany hotel, with its own Instagram at @o2rooftopbar. A second option in the same district, which matters when you are choosing a room for a specific night.

The Peak, Grand Hyatt. The Grand Hyatt's bar in BGC. For the night when you want the setting itself to feel like an occasion, a grand hotel's high bar is the obvious place to look.

Vu's Sky Bar, Marco Polo. The one outside BGC and Makati, at the Marco Polo hotel in Ortigas. We found no current club listings for Ortigas at all, which makes a sky bar there worth knowing about if you live on that side of the city.

Venue	Area	For	Instagram
Antidote, I'M Hotel	Poblacion edge, Makati	A large roof, up to 300	@antidotebarph
Straight Up, Seda BGC	BGC	A hotel roof in the district	@straightupatseda
O2 Rooftop, Brittany	BGC	A second BGC roof	@o2rooftopbar
The Peak, Grand Hyatt	BGC	A night that feels like an occasion	@thepeakmanila
Vu's Sky Bar, Marco Polo	Ortigas	The east side of the city	@marcopolomanila (hotel)

What we look for in a roof

A good rooftop for a hosted night is a specific kind of room. When we look at one for an issue, this is the list we carry.

• Music at a level two people can talk over without leaning in.
• A bar you can reach in under a minute from anywhere on the deck.
• Open space to move between groups, so the room can mix.
• Enough light at eight o'clock to see who you are being introduced to.
• A hotel or venue team that is comfortable running a capped, ticketed room.

Most of the roofs above tick most of those boxes on paper. Which one wins an issue depends on the night, the date and, in the end, on you.

How to do a rooftop well

Go early. A rooftop is at its best at the start of the night, while the light is still going and the deck has room to move. It is the one kind of bar where arriving first is an advantage.

Dress a step smarter than you would for the street below. Hotel bars tend to keep tidier expectations than the clubs, and you will feel more at ease for it. Check the venue's own page on the day, since weather and private events can change what is open.

And if you are going alone, a rooftop is the easiest place to do it. There is always a view to stand next to while you decide who to talk to first.

Your vote

Every Party Life issue has a venue on the cover, and readers choose the next one by DM. If one of these five is your roof, or there is another you think we have missed, send its name to @partylifemnl.