"More than an event, Hanky Panky's night at COA is a celebration of cultural exchange, innovation and exceptional drinking," hotel officials told News is My Business in January. In the same story, the hotel said the night fit COA Bar & Lounge's ongoing effort to become a regional destination for cocktail programming.
Ten months later, the plan has shape. On Friday, November 13, Double Chicken Please from New York City takes over COA at Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, from 6:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. The resort's event listing calls it "the final bar takeover of the year."
For anyone living around Dorado Beach East, these takeovers matter beyond the cocktails. Most of the resort's social calendar runs through the club and is limited to members and resort guests. COA belongs to the hotel, and its guest-bar nights have been marketed to people who live nearby.
A Year Built One Guest Bar at a Time
Three takeovers have dated listings in 2026. Each brought in a bar that the 50 Best organization has recognized.
| Date | Guest bar | Home base | Recognition | What was published about entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 23, 2026 | Hanky Panky | Mexico City | Regularly recognized among the World's 50 Best Bars, per the hotel | $40 per person plus taxes and fees; open to hotel guests, residents and visitors |
| July 17, 2026 | Identidad | Santurce, San Juan | 2025 James Beard Award for Best New Bar; No. 73 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 extended list | Reservations by phone or email; no price listed |
| November 13, 2026 | Double Chicken Please | Lower East Side, New York | No. 35 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 | Pricing shown as "N/A" |
The January night set the template. According to News is My Business, the $40 ticket included one signature Hanky Panky cocktail and a selection of bites, and guests could keep ordering from COA's regular menu for the rest of the evening. The outlet described Hanky Panky as a Mexico City speakeasy founded by Philippe "Pippa" Montoya.
July brought the series closer to home. Identidad is a Santurce bar that the 50 Best organization calls "Puerto Rico's hot newcomer," and it entered North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 at No. 73 on the 51–100 list. It also won the 2025 James Beard Award for Best New Bar, as Remezcla reported. The resort's Identidad listing promised cocktails that "celebrate local flavors."
The series also has a history before 2026. The hotel told News is My Business that COA had already hosted La Factoría of San Juan and Café La Trova of Miami. La Factoría ranks No. 26 on North America's 50 Best Bars 2026, nine places above the November guest.
What Double Chicken Please Brings
GN Chan and Faye Chen started Double Chicken Please as a series of cocktail pop-ups in 2017. They opened the permanent bar at 115 Allen Street on New York's Lower East Side in autumn 2020.
The bar is built around a split. Its 50 Best profile describes a front room called Free Range and a backroom called The Coop, where cocktails are designed as "drinkable meals." The bar's 2026 North America entry calls it "an experiment in how far drinks can mimic food." The Marriott listing describes the same idea, promising "familiar food flavors" turned into cocktails, with a curated menu of the team's signature drinks for the one night.
Its record on the lists since its debut:
- 2022: debuted at No. 6 in The World's 50 Best Bars
- 2023: No. 1 in North America's 50 Best Bars
- 2025: No. 41 in The World's 50 Best Bars
- April 2026: No. 35 in North America's 50 Best Bars
- September 2026: No. 53 on the global 51–100 list, which was released ahead of the top 50 announced in Milan on October 7 under the organization's new name, The 50 Best Bars
After four years near the top, Double Chicken Please is still on both lists. Seeing it usually means a trip to Allen Street, and the 50 Best write-up describes its front room as no-reservations. On November 13, the same team will be pouring on Puerto Rico's north coast, a short drive from home.
Why the Hotel Bar Is the Open Door
Most of the venues at Dorado Beach run under club rules. The resort events calendar says dining at Su Casa "is exclusive for Members and Resort Guests," and guests of members "must be accompanied by a member at all times." The Howl-O-Ween Social at the Sports Hub on October 30 has the same restriction. The December calendar continues on those terms, with a Members' Christmas Party on December 10.
COA's guest-bar nights are listed on the hotel side, on Marriott's event pages for Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. The one takeover with published access terms, Hanky Panky in January, was described as open to hotel guests, residents and visitors.
The hotel has also given COA its own identity apart from the takeovers. The COA page describes the restaurant as a grill with contemporary cuisine and "a native essence," cooked in a custom wood-burning oven called Mi Brasa. The lounge is presented as a cocktail room with sunset views, craft cocktails and a rum heritage. Its listed hours are noon to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
This is how a resort bar turns into a cocktail destination. The guest list draws from Mexico City, New York, Miami and San Juan, and the hotel keeps a few seats for people who live minutes away. If you have been reading our notes on the resort's dinner calendar, COA is the bar side of that same plan.
Planning for November 13
The Double Chicken Please listing shows pricing as "N/A" and does not spell out admission terms. Assume nothing from the January price, and confirm directly.
- Call the hotel's dining reservations line. The Identidad listing gave (787) 278-7271 and [email protected] for takeover bookings.
- Ask three questions. Is there a ticket price, does it include a drink or bites as the January format did, and is entry open to non-hotel guests this time?
- Pick your hour. The bar runs from 6:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m., so an early arrival lines up with the sunset views the lounge advertises, and a later one gets you the takeover's last hours.
- Head to the hotel address. Dorado Beach, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve is at 100 Dorado Beach Drive.
What Comes After the Last Takeover
After November 13, the hotel's own calendar shifts to the holidays. The Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner is at COA on November 26 from 3 to 9 p.m. and is described as a family-style prix fixe. The Sunday Market at La Cocina Gourmet runs every Sunday through December 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with local products and gourmet specialties. Neither listing gives a price.
In town, Dorado lights its Christmas season in the Plaza Pública on Saturday, November 21, at 7 p.m. MiAgendaPR lists Conjunto Quisqueya, Moncho Rivera and Los Cantores de Bayamón on the bill.
Back inside the gates, the club's Great Christmas Caravan on December 4 combines a golf-cart parade with a Santa meet-and-greet, and the resort says more details are coming.
The hotel has not announced a 2027 takeover lineup yet. Based on the January, July and November dates, the next guest bar will most likely appear as a listing on Marriott's Dorado Beach event pages.
At The Colectivo Group, we track Dorado Beach the way our clients live in it, from the club calendar to the hotel bar to the plaza in town. If you are thinking about a home near COA, we can tell you which parts of the resort will be open to you as an owner and which ones are not. Schedule a private showing in Dorado Beach East, and we will plan it around a night when there's something on at COA.
