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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=6 color="#333333" face="Trebuchet MS"><span
style='font-size:21.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS";color:#333333;font-weight:
bold'>New Arrivals</span></font></b><font size=2 color="#333333" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#333333'> <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>St Tropez? Passé. Ibiza? So over. The hottest
spots for bars and clubs in Europe right now are not where you'd expect</span></b>...<br>
<a
href="http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm">http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm</a><br>
<br>
</span></font><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Beirut</span></font></b><font
size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'><br>
Vibrant Beirut was at one time the Paris of the Middle East, a magnet for
nightclubbing hedonists from East and West. A long civil war tarnished its
cosmopolitan character yet, in the 15 years since the ceasefire, Beirut has
rebuilt its reputation for fun in the sun. The bustling playground of the
Levant is swinging harder than ever, alive with alfresco cafes, designer shops,
exclusive beach clubs and all-night clubs.<br>
<br>
The best place to start a long, heady night is around the pool of the swanky open-air
Sky Bar at the top of the Palm Beach Hotel (Ain el-Mreisseh; +961 (0) 1 369
113), which offers cocktails, DJs playing loungey sounds, and magnificent views
across the Med.<br>
<br>
Stunning Lebanese girls, flashy local celebrities and monied businessmen then
move on to Zinc (37 Seifeddine el-Khatib Street; +961(0) 1 612 612), a classy,
dimly lit restaurant and bar in a French colonial villa that was taken and
retaken so many times during the war that it was eventually nicknamed the
"Bitch of Beirut".<br>
<br>
After midnight, revellers head to Monot Street, a hilly road lined with bars
and clubs that lies beside the infamous Green Line, which once divided
Christian East Beirut fromthe Muslim West. Here, the party continues at a
knowingly war-themed bar called 1975 (Monot Street; +961 (0) 3 323 700), named
after the year that the fighting kicked off. Inside, mortar shells stand on the
bar, fake sandbags are piled up in the windows, and the waiters wear fatigues
and combat helmets, while your drinks are served in old ammunition boxes.<br>
<br>
Near to Monot Street is the plush and baroque Crystal (243 Monot Street; +961
(0) 1 332 523), Beirut's largest and flashiest club. Dressing up is positively
encouraged here. Whenever a punter buys one of the <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>€2,500, nine-litre bottles of Mo</span></i>ët & Chandon, the music
stops, a spotlight is beamed onto them and an anthem is played as two waiters
carry over their order.<br>
<br>
</span></font><img width=280 height=224 src="cid:image001.jpg@01C5F920.EE754660"
align=left style='margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;margin-right:6px;
margin-top:6px' alt="Hottest Spots for bars in Europe"><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>The late-night partying continues until 7am at the legendary BO18
(Lot 317, La Quarantaine; +961 (0) 3 800 018), a rather eerie underground
bunker that looks like a cross between a bomb shelter and a mausoleum. The club
has a domed roof that retracts to allow the ravers to dance to house and techno
under the warm, starry sky.<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Lisbon</span></b><br>
The fun and friendly Portuguese capital has undergone a quiet renaissance in
the past few years, transforming itself from a charming backwater into one of
Europe's most vibrant cities. Lisbon has elegant avenues, soulful fado music,
clanking yellow trams and nearby beaches, and now boasts a great-value,
all-night party vibe that puts Barcelona and Madrid to shame.<br>
<br>
Cool and casual locals, flashy African dudes, beautiful Brazilian girls and
super-smart Euro-weekenders kick off long evenings in the busy bars of the
historic Barrio Alto area, then head out to the redeveloped Docas district for
offbeat clubs located in converted dockside warehouses.<br>
<br>
Hippest stop-off is the Alcântara Café (15 Rua Maria Luisa Holstein;+351 (0)21
363 7176;<a href="http://www.alcantaracafe.com"><b><font color="#003366"><span
style='color:#003366;font-weight:bold'>www.alcantaracafe.com</span></font></b></a>),
a bar and restaurant in a capacious former printing works. Decorated with ruby
velvet drapes, sweeping ceiling fans, oversized mirrors and a glam Art Deco
flourish, the industrially chic Alcâ ntara has a vast, high-ceilinged dining
room, a bar serving the best caipirin has in the city and a dance floor playing
house and electronica (check out the club's eponymous CD for a preview).<br>
<br>
The hip crowd then dance all night at Lux (Avenida Infante D Henrique; +351
(0)21 882 0890; <a href="http://www.luxfragil.com"><b><font color="#003366"><span
style='color:#003366;font-weight:bold'>www.luxfragil.com</span></font></b></a>),
a club in a labyrinthine riverside warehouse complex part-owned by John
Malkovich. Lux's main dance floor hosts superstar DJs such as St Germain and
Dorfmeister. A large retro-styled upstairs bar has balconies, chill-out zones,
Sixties sofas and video projections. There's also a rooftop terrace. Next day,
clubbers siesta in the sun on the beaches at Estoril and Cascais, a short train
ride away.<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Berlin</span></b><br>
Not since the decadent Thirties has Berlin's nightlife burned so brightly. The
city's vibrant club scene blossomed out of the derelict buildings of the former
East Berlin back in the early Nineties and has been thriving since. The
Euro-home of a certain renegade edge and freeform kookiness, boomtown Berlin's
bar and club scene has never been hotter, especially among the artist, designer
and fashion crowds.<br>
<br>
Clubbers meet early evening at White Trash (201 Torstrasse), an old Chinese
restaurant crossed with a Tex-Mex cowboy diner, where bohemian types mingle
with transvestites and biker gangs (the owner is a motorcycle-riding, tattooed
American). They move on to Greenwich (5 Gipsstrasse, Mitte; +49 (0)30 2809
5566), a laidback cocktail bar decorated with cowhide panels and illuminated
fish tanks framed with lime-coloured leather, or Universum Lounge (153
Kurfürstendamm; +49 (0)30 8906 4995), a glam former Bauhaus cinema with sleek,
space-age furnishings and gold lunar-landscape wallpaper.<br>
<br>
All-night ravers then head for the emergency services-themed Ambulance Bar (27
Oranienburger Strasse, Mitte), a lounge-style DJ bar, or Dangerous Drums (<a
href="http://www.dangerous-drums.de"><b><font color="#003366"><span
style='color:#003366;font-weight:bold'>www.dangerous-drums.de</span></font></b></a>),
a roaming techno and breakbeats night found at the Pfefferbank club (176
Schönhauser Allee).<br>
<br>
Very late (after 8am), dedicated revellers drop into the infamous KitKatClub
(2-14 Bessemerstrasse), a leather-and-chains SM nightclub that hosts a hip
after-hours party, and then finally on to Cafe Einstein (5 Kurfurstenstrasse;
+49 (0)30 261 5096), a historic Viennese-style coffee house that serves all-day
breakfasts.<br>
<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Moscow</span></b><br>
Fifteen years of the Russian free market revolution has created a sybaritic and
super-rich class of New Muscovites with an unbridled passion for partying and
the high life. Moscow's nightlife scene buzzes with <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>nouveaux</span></i> riches young millionaires, gorgeous Russian society
girls and louche Euro jet-setters. This hot entrepreneurial city overflows with
Bentleys, Prada, caviar, Champagne and ice-cold Stoli.<br>
<br>
The in-crowd mingle at the "eclectically baroque and decadently maximalist"
bar and restaurant Milk &Honey (38 Ulitsa Myasnitskaya; +7 (0) 095 928
9947). The colourful and kitsch interior is a playful riot of Victorian
antiques, red velvet curtains, crystal chandeliers and gilt-edged mirrors.
Vodka shots and Champagne -- either vintage Moët or Cristal Rosé, by the magnum
of course -- are <i><span style='font-style:italic'>de rigueur</span></i> in
the downstairs bar, where on any given night the fashion-conscious rub
shoulders with Russia's artists and thinkers and the place buzzes with
conversation.<br>
<br>
Drinkers stay to eat in the restaurant, serving delicious French food from chef
Charles Lefebre, before party people move on to the ostentatious and
staggeringly expensive new VIP venue Osen (3 Teatralny Proyezd; +7 (0)095 921
9888), or to Cabaret (8a Strastnoi Bulvar; +7 (0)095 789 8315), a club designed
by the team behind Caves du Roy in St Tropez. But be warned -- both clubs
practise Moscow's infamous "face control" door policy.<br>
<br>
Serious ravers finish with breakfast at Mix (11 Novinsky Bulvar; +7 (0)095 255
4333), a favourite after-hours club that stays open until the very last punter
decides to leave -- often as late as 3pm the following afternoon.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>By Philip Watson (</span></font><font
size=2 color="#333333" face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:#333333'><a
href="http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm">http://www.businessweek.com/@@jD6DRocQJ8oYwxwA/magazine/content/05_48/b3961413.htm</a>)</span></font></p>
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