Knocked back drink with hotel close by (4)
I believe the answer is:
nigh
'close by' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'knocked back drink with hotel' is the wordplay.
'knocked back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'drink' becomes 'gin' (gin is a kind of drink**).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'gin' back-to-front is 'nig'.
'nig'+'h'='NIGH'
(Other definitions for nigh that I've seen before include "Just round the corner" , "Almost (arch.)" , "Near at hand" , "Close at hand" , "old touch" .)