Limes Hotel Rooftop Bar

Came here for my birthday in September after some drinks at Emporium Hotel and found it to be on a suspicious looking alley street vibe. The outside looked like it was trying too hard to fit in and look cool but it kinda looked creepy and the inside where you had to take the lift up was even worse.
So we get up to the bar and I felt like I was back in NY again — trendy spot with beautiful people and great music. The place was packed but the crowd was way too young for my preference. I don’t mind mixed crowds with all types of age groups but this night it was as if I was dropped in the middle of a hip high school bar.
We had a few drinks and just left because my partner wasn’t feeling it either. It’s cool I guess for the kids but stay away if you’re more into mature crowds.

We stumbled upon this little beauty in our first few weeks in Brisbane. Someone in our group had heard about it and we when on a bit of an ex-​pat scavenger hunt to find it. When we finally realized that it was on the rooftop of the hotel, the receptionist said it was too full so we had to wait outside… once in we had a great time. Good music, good crowd, good times. Once summer comes around again we will be back:)

The only kind of drinking worth doing is drinking in the sky.
Man I want to end this next sentence with something something ‘high’ but that’d be pretty naff, and this place is anything but. Open Thursday through the weekend ’til around 1am (it’s kinda of hard to tell the time after as many drinks as found their way down my gullet last night), it’s secret enough that you feel squirreled away somewhere exclusive, and ambitious enough that you’re glad to be above the plebs fighting for food scraps and such down on the mean streets of Fortitude valley.
The Slow Collins with fresh blueberries, Espresso Martini and Whisky Sour are standouts, and the bourbons, my drink of choice, are strong and plentiful. PLENTIFUL, I say!

I found the Limes experience to be disappointing.
With my opening sentence out there, let me go into a little more detail. Last year, my partner took me to Limes for my birthday. This is before we had Unilocal,and I’m not sure how she found out about it but it was a surprise for me. We got there and everything was really nice. I was looking forward to trying some things in the mini bar, because I never get to do that. Unfortunately the vodka seal was broken and they didn’t have any replacements. We had some cocktails upstairs before venturing out. The worst part about our experience were the clientele there. I’m not sure what the best way to describe them are, but cool and rude probably fits. Very much the popular group from school who aren’t very nice to other people. But please, be aware, I am generalising. They can’t all be bad, but that was the vibe I was getting.
I came to Limes again this past week for a 90’s movie night. Wednesdays and Thursdays there’s a rooftop bar. We paid $ 10 for tickets to sit up in a nice place. Okay, okay. That’s general price for that kind of thing. And there’s blankets, which is nice. The Limes Facebook page advertised some food packages on the poster with the tickets. I asked the bar staff about them, and they didn’t know what I was talking about. One suggested I needed to purchase at the time of my ticket. So I went back to my seat and checked, found the poster, went to the booking page again, and there was no option. So I took it back to the bar, and was served by another person. This time they still had no idea what I was talking about, and even after showing them the poster they wouldn’t do the package. I was annoyed since I had specifically planned this, and eating/​drinking at Limes is not easy on the wallet. While I was annoyed, I could deal with it, and made an order anyway. However, from this point forward the staff were plain rude. I was quite annoyed so got my partner to go up next round of drinks, and she said they were quite short and unfriendly to her as well. Not cool. I find that completely unprofessional, and honestly seems like the staff have merged toward the clientele style from my previous experience.
I don’t have time for this. There are plenty of places in Brisbane I can go without feeling ostracised for a drink and some food. I won’t be visiting Limes again. I have posted a comment on the photo about the staff not knowing about the food packages but am yet to hear a reply.

I went to Brisbane last week and stayed at the Lime Hotel, which has now become my favorite hotel in the world. Their rooftop bar is awesome and they put us in the happy party mood as soon as we checked in by offering us welcome drinks. I usually miss having proper internet access while travelling so I really appreciate the free broadband wifi access provided by the Lime Hotel. The room was very comfortable and everything we wanted to explore was nearby. So, if anyone is planning a trip to Brisbane, Lime Hotel is the place to stay.

Four years ago in a less than savoury part of Fortitude Valley, we welcomed the Limes Hotel Rooftop Bar and although the area surrounding is slowly pulling up it’s britches, this rooftop bar has forged ahead as one of Brisbane’s premier destination bars. Take in a spectacular view of our city while you sip on any number of tantalizing cocktails (I’m newly taken with the dark choc and passion mai tai).
They also host a rooftop movie night series and a whole heap of other themed events. Suffice to say, whether you’re on a date, out with the girls or on a boy’s night you’ll fit in regardless at Limes.

This rooftop bar is usually busy with a great atmosphere. I don’t tend to end up there often, purely because it’s a little off the beaten track, but this results in a pretty decent crowd and not as many idiots as you find at more central places. Situated on Fortitude Valley’s Constance Street (just off St Paul’s Terrace), the bar itself is on the Limes Hotel rooftop. The outdoor feel is perfectly suited to Brisbane’s climate, the space is nicely decorated, and these guys do some mean cocktails. The bar area isn’t huge, so be prepared just in case you’re turned away due to capacity being reached. Limes asks that groups of 20 or more register in advance to be added to the guest list. A rooftop cinema has also been added to the mix at Limes recently, diversifying this great little space. Keep an eye on the website or Facebook page for film details.

The first time I went to Limes, I was blown away by how exclusive it seemed and yet how easy it was to get in to. Which is excellent, don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t picturing the bouncer turning up his nose at me and asking if I was on a list or anything, but I wasn’t really sure what to expect either. Maybe it’s the whole rooftop appeal or maybe it’s the façade of exclusivity or the many events that occur at Limes, but it is actually like a boutique bar experience. Not boutique in the way that Archive sells boutique beers, boutique in that you expect people who wear Sass & Bide and circulate through the most elegant social groups to frequent a place like Limes.
It’s a small venue and the host of activities occur around the downstairs bar under their exotic umbrellas, but there’s also an upstairs area that hosts the bathrooms.
I felt like I was going into the batcave at Limes because you’re ushered through the ‘lobby’ if you will, to the lift and before you know it, you’re upstairs in the hive of the action. I like to dress up when I go to Limes to feel a little glamorous. On a Saturday night in particular, it’s quite busy, but they have some pretty fancy cocktails that are definitely worth a sample.

Limes Hotel is full of surprises. Last week for a simple work function my friends and I moved from the function room out to the cocktail bar for a drink where we were confronted by the strangest/​coolest thing to happen to us that month.
An enormous African American man named Gus, who was wearing the biggest gold chain I’ve ever seen, also dressed in a fur coat, sang ‘What a Wonderful World’ in the deepest voice I’ve ever heard. Now it might be easy to exaggerate and talk this story up but there is no need, for half an hour Gus turned a busy cocktail bar into a silent amphitheatre as we listened to a guy play trumpet and Gus sing his little Jazz loving heart-​out.
Only at Limes Hotel.

Limes would be one of my frequent nights spots if it wasn’t so small. Its classy, under the stars, has great cocktails, happy hour, exotic bar food, everything you could want in a bar. Its just not big enough! There are about four tables on the rooftop that get snaffled early and everyone who comes in after is just left to kind of stand wherever there is some room feeling slightly awkward. I still love it though, they do great $ 5 Pizzas and Jazz on Thursday nights, rooftop movies on a Tuesday night and have latched onto a pretty unique idea with their hotel room deals available after midnight for patrons who can’t be bothered to go home after a few drinks at Limes.

The Limes Hotel is more than just a mere rooftop bar with banging cocktails, awesome DJ sets and sweeping views across Fortitude Valley. It is also a boutique hotel. So if you’re one to party, and party hard, perhaps book a room ahead in advance, so all you have to do is stagger to the lift and ease yourself straight into bed. Or if you’re after a more romantic getaway, sink into the bean bags, watch a rooftop movie (complete with champagne and strawberries, of course) then glide down the elevator and recline on your private hammock (that’s right, all rooms are equipped with hammocks).
The rooms are stylishly designed with state-​of-​the-​art features, including free Wi-​Fi, iPod docking station, Nespresso coffee machine and king-​sized bed.
The Limes Hotel is definitely a unique hide-​away in the centre of Brisbane’s nightlife, and well worth checking out.

The rooftop at Limes is where you will find the young and beautiful of Brisbane. On the 4^th level of the boutique hotel lies an urban oasis where it’s impossible not to relax, and Limes really has taken advantage of Brisbane’s generally awesome weather (and now has cover for those rare rainy days).
The fun thing about Limes is that depending on what night of the week you go, there will be something different happening. One night it’s jazz and pizza, the next you could be watching a great film under the stars, and on the weekends you’re bound to have a good time with Brisbane’s young professionals swarming there for after work drinks on a Friday and continuing on until Sunday night. I have been many times and there’s always something new to experience there. The Thursday night live Jazz is a particular favourite of mine. Limes generally doesn’t have a cover charge (accepting the evenings when there is a ticketed event) but it is quite strict on it’s smart casual dress code and doesn’t allow thongs, singlets or sneakers.
One down side of the popularity of this hip bar, is that it has been known to reach capacity easily, so it’s best to arrive early and start your night there so as to not be disappointed. And hey, arriving at sunset is pretty gorgeous when you’re sipping on a cold beer on a rooftop. It’s also a great place to take out-​of-​towners for a night of relaxed fun.