With the addition of some seriously swanky hotels, Charlotte’s hotel bar scene is hopping, and leading the charge is w xyz at Aloft Charlotte Uptown. Not only is it a cozy hideout from the busy EpiCentre (you can look down onto the nightlife complex from the bar’s floor-to-ceiling windows), but it’s a great nightspot in its own right. Top-40 pop and hip-hop plays while a mixture of out-of-towners and locals kicks back in the cushioned sofas, chat it up at the bar, or mingle around the pool table.