Nowhere does a private members club quite like London. Where the class system of yesteryear left off, private clubs stepped in, and London’s private members’ clubs are world famous – both for the sheer number of them, and their exclusivity. And if there’s one thing more frustrating than bastions of elitism, it’s not being a part of it…
Navigating the myriad of London clubs can be opaque and tricky, so we’ve put together all the very best ones in one place. All you need to do now is get to buttering up your proposer and seconder to nominate you to become a member. From stylish Annabel’s and Home House, to women-only clubs and historic institutions, we’ve rounded up our selection of the very finest private members’ clubs London has to offer.
Annabel’s
Annabel’s is legendary on the London club scene. It may not be the oldest, the grandest or the most exclusive, but it’s one of the best-known clubs in London – and the swish private members club really is at the very top of its game at the moment. A whopping £65m spending splurge saw them leave their traditional basement home a few doors down and instead occupy a substantial Berkeley Square townhouse in its entirety – and the results are quite impressive.
Martin Brudnizki, the ubiquitous interior designer whose work can be seen in some of London’s most exclusive spots, has created a playground perfect for the rich and famous. With multiple restaurants, bars and of course, its infamous night club, Annabel’s re-entered a busy members’ club market with an impressive offering.
Annabel’s is legendary on the London club scene.
Where: 46 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, W1J 5AT
Website: www.annabels.co.uk
Great for: People watching, celebrity spotting and dining in style
Who goes here: The power-set, the ultra-glam and super-rich social ascendees
Key membership benefits: Access to a world beating club, one of London’s most famous and splendid
Ease of entry: Members need to be proposed, good business women candidates are currently fast-tracked
Membership cost: £3,250 per year + £1,750 joining fee
Shoreditch House
Ten years after its launch as London’s edgiest new club, Shoreditch House has retained its cool credentials but gained a little maturity, and a lot of members. Housed in a converted East London warehouse (where else?), Shoreditch House offers members use of a bowling alley, Cowshed Spa and an impressive gym. But where Shoreditch House reaches dizzying heights is the top-floor restaurant and the rooftop pool with iconic views across London.
The recently added ‘Shoreditch Rooms’ means you can now live amongst the hipsters with an overnight stay at one of the sister clubs; members have the option to make the most of facilities of Soho Houses in Istanbul, Toronto, New York, Berlin and Barcelona.
A top-floor restaurant and rooftop pool with iconic views across London.
Great for: The party vibe and, of course, the rooftop pool
Who goes here: The cool, East London crowd (basically, millennials)
Key membership benefits: It’s got to be the pool! Also, good co-working space
Ease of entry: Two proposers required, more popular clubs are trickier to get entry to
Membership cost: £550 registration fee and £1,800 per year (£2,750 if you want access to other Soho House clubs)
Where: Ebor Street, Shoreditch, E1 6AW
Website: www.shoreditchhouse.com
The Ivy Private Members Club
Part of the ever-expanding Ivy empire, The Ivy Club is a newcomer but one worthy to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the very best of London’s nightspots. Accessed via a discrete entrance round the corner from the eponymous restaurant, a short lift-ride and you’re in the exclusive confines of the three storey private members club.
The wood panelled drawing room features a pianist and bar while upstairs the minimalist loft feels like a spaceship or laboratory. The private members club is home to mainly creative types drawn from the media.
Great for: Food and drink, while the disco upstairs is pretty good too
Who goes here: Creative industry types, again, perhaps with a more corporate angle?
Key membership benefits: Entry via a special lift at The Ivy (not a benefit as such, but has a real hidden away feel)
Ease of entry: Members must be proposed and seconded by existing members
Membership cost: £500 joining fee, £1,250 annual membership
Where: 9 West Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9NE
Website: www.the-ivyclub.co.uk
Allbright Mayfair
All male clubs may be the work of the devil, but all female private members clubs are progressive as hell. Which is good for AllBright Mayfair because the smart hangout for women includes a restaurant and bar, two secluded rooftop terraces, salon and fabulous interiors.
But AllBright Mayfair is more than a clubhouse or a place to hang out, there’s a real mission too. The club is a career network for women to connect, to launch a business or find friendships and unwind.
From talks from inspiring female founders, to restaurant residencies and networking opportunities, the beautiful surroundings are just the start. And even members who can’t get to Mayfair as often as they’d like can join digitally, with access to over 200 training courses and the chance to connect with women globally.
Great for: Empowered, self-improving women
Who goes here: Business leaders and entrepreneurs
Key membership benefits: The roster of events is impressive
Ease of entry: Well you need to be a woman, for starters
Membership cost: £300 joining fee and £1,650 annual membership
Where: 24-26 Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1S 1PP
Website: www.allbrightcollective.com
Home House
Spread across three Georgian townhouses in Marylebone (19, 20 and 21 Portman Square) Home House fuses 18th century opulence with 21st century design and a quintessentially British sensibility. With exceptional facilities – the private members club boasts two restaurants, five bars, lavish party rooms and intimate gardens – it offers members an unrivalled social calendar packed with endless events and societies.
Home House has recently introduced a ‘daytime to playtime concept’, with the interiors of House 21 designed by Russel Sage Studios and a new, high-tempo late dining offer in an elegant, British epicurean-inspired setting. There’s no interviews or esoteric initiations in the membership process – it’s billed as a ‘home from home’, albeit a supremely exclusive one.
Home House has lasted the course and is well on the way to becoming a London institution.
Great for: The ideal place to work during the day, then party during the night
Who goes here: A smart but discerning set
Key membership benefits: There’s no pool but there is a gym and wellness suite. Beautiful surroundings and interesting members
Ease of entry: No need for proposers etc
Membership cost: Annual full membership at Home House is £1,450 for under-35s, £2,250 for those over 35, plus a £399 joining fee.
Where: 20 Portman Square, Fitzrovia, W1H 6LW
Website: www.homehouse.co.uk
The Ned
The Ned is something totally different. It’s a one-stop shop for London fine dining, and this vast club dwarfs all the others. You could probably fit at least half the private members clubs on this list into its eight floors of prime space. It has ten individual restaurants. Ten! Not all eateries are members’ only, letting you try before-you-buy, but the club also boasts two pools (one subterranean, the other rooftop) just for members, plus a floor of dining, meeting and relaxing space; an invaluable resource in the heart of London’s financial centre.
Part of the Soho House empire, unusually membership to this private members club doesn’t automatically give you access elsewhere, as The Ned stands apart from the rest of the Soho House structure.
Great for: Sealing a massive city deal, celebrating a bonus, that kind of thing
Who goes here: Well heeled bankers and city folk
Key membership benefits: Private areas for members (including a rooftop pool!)
Ease of entry: Members must be proposed and considered by the committee (tip: take special note of the ‘You and the Ned’ section)
Membership cost: £4,380 per year and a £1,000 joining fee
Where: 27 Poultry, The City, EC2R 8AJ
Website: www.thened.com
The Sloane Club
Founded originally in 1922 by Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Helena, The Sloane Club was opened as the Service Women’s Club as a haven for women in the forces. With gentlemen not allowed entry until the 1960s, The Sloane Club was ahead of its time in honouring spaces for empowered women.
The Sloane Club today carries the baton of this heritage by being a space where the modern-day members, both men and women, meet and come together with a shared attitude of embracing life in all its glory. Work in The Chelsea, a serviced co-working space filled with light by day and a buzzy bar with showstopping cocktails by night, enjoy gastronomic delights in The Garden Room, and hand-selected wines in The Bar and relax in one of the chic bedrooms at the end of the day. Expect spectacular Asian-European dishes, delicious cocktails and an intriguing event schedule. Even better – the club is dog-friendly in all areas, at all times of the day, making it the perfect members club for fur parents.
Where: 52 Lower Sloane St, London SW1W 8BP
Website: www.sloaneclub.co.uk
GREAT FOR: WORKING IN THE CHELSEA AT DAY; ENTERTAINING AND WINING AND DINING AT NIGHT
WHO GOES HERE: THE NEW CHELSEA SET: MODERN SLOANIES AND INTERNATIONAL JET-SETTERS
KEY MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: A CHIC CO-WORKING SPACE, ROOF TERRACE, AND 100+ AFFILIATE MEMBER CLUBS AROUND THE WORLD. It’s also dog-friendly – a major plus for fur parents.
EASE OF ENTRY: POTENTIAL MEMBERS MUST APPLY OR BE PROPOSED BY AN EXISTING MEMBER AND CONSIDERED BY THE COMMITTEE.
MEMBERSHIP COST: £800 PER YEAR FOR UNDER 30s, FROM £1,015 PER YEAR FOR SOCIAL MEMBERSHIP, AND £1,240 PER YEAR FOR FULL MEMBERSHIP. JOINING FEES ALSO APPLY.
Tramp
Opening its doors at 40 Jermyn Street in December 1969, Tramp has been one of the most exclusive private members clubs in London ever since, outlasting many of the popular haunts of the past. The ethos of Tramp is almost as iconic as the venue itself: it’s the place to be, the place to be seen, and the place for anyone who is anyone to party from dusk till dawn.
The discreet entrance has seen the comings and goings of everyone from Frank Sinatra and the Beatles, a multitude of rock gods and goddesses, the world’s royalty, Hollywood’s major players and the highest echelons of international business and society. Often raucous and always fun, it’s no surprise that Tramp fast became London’s favourite place to let loose.
This year, the private members club has an exciting new calendar of events. From live music nights, an exclusive comedy club, and themed experiential dining events, to the relaunch of London’s original nightclub restaurant, and partnerships with some of London’s most exciting brands. Tramp’s past may be legendary, but there’s never been a better time to visit than today.
The discreet entrance has seen the comings and goings of everyone from Frank Sinatra and the Beatles, to Hollywood’s major players.
GREAT FOR: Celebrity spotting, dining, and partying ’til the early hours
WHO GOES HERE: Anyone who’s anyone. From worldly icons, to fashion trendsetters, city folk and luxury connoisseurs
KEY MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS: Fine dining experiences, a unique calendar of events, plus luxurious rooms to host your own
EASE OF ENTRY: Prospective members must be proposed and considered by the committee
MEMBERSHIP COST: This is Tramp’s best kept secret – you’ll need to enquire to find out.
Where: 40 Jermyn St, St. James’s, London SW1Y 6DN
Website: www.tramp.co.uk
The Richmond Club
The Richmond Club is Richmond’s first private members club and is a true hidden gem in West London. The Club offers the perfect workspace during the day, whilst being a hub for socialising at night. There is also a host of engaging events available for members, from comedy club, cocktail masterclasses, wine tastings, supper clubs and wellbeing classes.
Based in the beautiful Richmond Upon Thames, in a gorgeous converted building, The Richmond Club is a break from the norm with its quirky features and tailored space to meet member’s needs. Spread across two floors, the main bar area offers the perfect drinking and dining experience, while the second floor Pineapple Room plays a great host for events and business meetings. The beautiful, spacious garden and Pagoda is definitely the place to be for the upcoming summer months, the perfect space to enjoy one of your favourite tipples in.
Great For: Offering exciting events, and a social haven away from Richmond’s bustling High Street
Who Goes Here: Professionals and those who appreciate interesting cocktails, food and wines amid an entertaining and engaging environment.
Key membership benefits: Networking, exclusive events, weekend entertainment, priority tickets to in-house events including the Cinema Club and access to Richmond’s first members club
Ease Of Entry: Membership applications online. Over 21 years olds only
Membership Cost: Full – £400 | Corporate – £1000 | Couples- £750 | Under 27s – £270 |Social (Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday) – £250 | A small first year joining fee applies
Where: 115 – 117 Kew Road, Richmond, TW9 2PN
Website: www.therichmondclub.uk
5 Hertford Street
If rollerdecks were still a thing then 5 Hertford Street would have the most impressive in the world. As it is, they’ll have to make do with probably the most impressive private members club in the world instead, filled with A-listers, the great and good.
Famously formed as a giant snub in the ongoing feud between founder Robin Birley and Annabel’s owner Richard Caring, the club is a labyrinthine sprawl of luxury. Number five has a genuine lived-in feel to it, scattered with armchairs and deep, plush, carpets, the Mayfair townhouse club is tardis-like, with multiple restaurants and bars, a cigar room, cinema, and the jewel in its crown, nightclub Loulou’s.
Since opening in 2012, the club’s already achieved legendary status, and is a firm favourite of blue-bloods and A-listers alike. Despite this, 5 Hertford Street remains a club where your grandparents will feel as comfortable spending their Sunday as you did spending the early hours of Saturday morning. The open fires, soft lighting and armchairs made to sink into make it a dream spot for lazing off your hangover, treating a date, or impressing your parents with your excellent lifestyle choices.
If rollerdecks were still a thing then 5 Hertford Street would have the most impressive in the world
Great for: Loulous and celebrity spotting
Who goes here: A-listers and aristos (Harry Styles was famously turned away)
Key membership benefits: Access to London’s most exclusive
Ease of entry: Difficult. Must be proposed and seconded by members and face a discerning membership committee
Membership cost: Famously secretive, but reportedly £1,800 a year
Where: 2-5 Hertford Street, Mayfair, W1J 7RB
Website: www.5hertfordstreet.co.uk
The Hurlingham Club
Britain doesn’t really do ‘country clubs’, probably because if we did they’d all be eclipsed by the Hurlingham Club. The Fulham club is where well-to-do Londoners go to hang out. Forget the racy Soho private members clubs, leave the fusty St James’s clubs to grandpa, grab your tennis whites, we’re going to The Hurlingham. The imposing house and manicured gardens are only as impressive as their waiting list.
It’s currently closed to newcomers, having reached 30 years long. The only way in is to be born to a member (a tricky option for you at this stage) or to marry one. Genuinely, it really is worth it.
Grab your tennis whites...
Where: The Hurlingham Club, Ranelagh Gardens, Fulham, SW6 3PR
Website: www.hurlinghamclub.org.uk
Great for: Sporty types and families
Who goes here: Anyone who is anyone in South West London
Key membership benefits: The sports facilities are fantastic
Ease of entry: The waiting list is decades, better off marrying into it
Membership cost: £1,400 annual membership, plus a fee to be on the waiting list (if it opens again)
Great for: Smart-set Artists
Who goes here: Practising artists, or at least those with connections to the visual arts
Key membership benefits: Annual calendar of exhibitions, talks and events
Ease of entry: A proposer and seconder must put you forward (they need to have known you for more than two years).
Membership cost: £252-688 per year
Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club is undeniably an institution of the private members club scene, just one that’s a bit tricky to pigeon hole. Established in 1891, the club boasts over a century of artistic credentials and somehow it’s bohemian as ever.
Its creative crowd of members include painters, sculptors, filmmakers, poets and actors – making it the rebellious younger sister to the stuffy St James’ Clubs. Indeed, this private members club was banned from holding it’s annual ball in the Albert Hall in the 1950s due to its notorious reputation for ‘rowdiness, nudity and public homosexuality’. Still legendary for its parties, the Chelsea Arts Club also hosts a more reputable series of exclusive exhibitions, talks, screenings and performances from its artistic members.
Where: 143 Old Church Street, Chelsea, SW3 6EB
Website: www.chelseaartsclub.com
The Arts Club
The Arts Club has undergone something of a renaissance, travelling from somewhat a fusty and fading institution a decade ago, to one of London’s most exclusive and right-on private members clubs today. The phoenix that has risen from not-quite the ashes is part hotel and part exclusive club. Below three storeys of Art Deco-inspired rooms and suites, sits a beautiful, airy club that’s a breath of fresh air to the private members club scene.
Great for: Enjoying the art collection
Who goes here: Turbo Sloanes and royals, the sort of people who decided 5 Hertford Street was too mainstream
Key membership benefits: The art and the events are noteworthy, the health club costs (a lot) extra, but it does have its own MRI machine!
Ease of entry: Members must be proposed and seconded by existing members
Membership cost: £2,000 joining fee, £2,500 annual membership
Where: 40 Dover Street, Mayfair, W1S 4NP
Website: www.theartsclub.co.uk
Great for: Being at the centre of the party
Who goes here: Young, millennial, professionals
Key membership benefits: Upgrade your membership for another £670 per year and use other clubs in the network (they’re everywhere, including two streets away on Dean Street!)
Ease of entry: Ideally they’d like you to be in the creative industries. Oh, and don’t wear a tie, whatever you do!
Membership cost: £550 registration fee and £1,800 per year (£2,750 if you want access to other Soho House clubs)
Where: 40 Greek Street, Soho, W1D 4EB
Website: www.sohohouse.com
Soho House
If you’re the sort of person who refuses to watch the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair or Oceans Eleven, then you’re probably after the original Soho House too. To you, all the other Soho Houses are as worthless as the rebooted Jumanji or Italian Job, and good for you. Ground zero in the seemingly exponential explosion of Soho House as it spreads its achingly cool appeal across the globe one rooftop pool after another, Soho House Greek Street really is where it all started.
Occupying five historic Georgian townhouses the private members club has an outdoor courtyard, roof deck, bar, restaurant and many many club rooms. Labyrinthine and always chokka block of people you know, think you’ve met before or want to meet now, it’s always a party and always fun.
Soho House spreads its achingly cool appeal across the globe, and Soho House Greek Street is where it all started.
Century Club
Somehow tucked discreetly away behind Shaftesbury Avenue, one hundred steps take you up to the aptly named Century Club, spread across five floors of members’ areas. With its vogueish décor, airy spaces big enough to make you feel miles from the scrum of Soho, this private members club is a real sanctuary.
Playing host to talks and live music members can enjoy four exclusive bars, three restaurants and three separate roof terraces, without doubt The Century Club’s secret weapon. Soho’s largest rooftop doubled in size during lockdown and it ideal for gazing across the lights of the West End with a sundowner in hand.
Soho’s largest rooftop.
Where: 61-63 Shaftesbury Avenue, Westminster, W1D 6LQ
Website: www.centuryclub.co.uk
Great for: Soho’s largest rooftop terrace
Who goes here: Anyone looking for a different take on the Soho club
Key membership benefits: The rooftop terrace is great for summer
Ease of entry: Apply online
Membership cost: £875 per year
Quo Vadis
Where are we going? Quo Vadis… The restaurant and private members club, housed in a former brothel that was once the home of Karl Marx (presumably not at the same time), combines a triumphant Soho restaurant with a private members’ club.
The restaurant, small and nearly perfect, is available to muggles, but members upstairs can enjoy the Dean Street club’s private dining room, as well as the homely ‘snug’ room and two bars, making it an ideal respite from the carnage of a Soho evening. Quo Vadis underwent substantial refurbishment in 2016 and the new interior is a gorgeously lit masterpiece of lush carpets and moodily painted walls, giving an old-school luxury feel.
Great for: Dining (the smoked eel sandwich is famous)
Who goes here: Restauranteurs, arts and culture types and creatives
Key membership benefits: Members’ events and private dining
Ease of entry: New members must be proposed and seconded by existing members and considered by the membership committee
Membership cost: £600 a year
Where: 26-29 Dean St, London, W1D 3LL
Website: www.quovadissoho.co.uk
Eight Members’ Club
Eight is basically the perfect kids’ den, if those kids were in their 30s and bunking off from their corporate city job. Set in what can only be described as a bunker, you descend several flights to even reach this dark cavern of fun. And fun there is, because they’ve got pool tables to prove it.
Eight have expanded their private members club offering and now cover two locations, the subterranean cool of Bank but another clubhouse in Moorgate as well a new, world-class, gym offering dubbed Eight Core. Membership grants you access to all three, making it excellent value, particularly if you’re local.
Hello darkness my old friend...
Great for: Just being bloody cool
Who goes here: City boys
Key membership benefits: An escape from your mindlessly dull but well paying job. Also, if you’re entrepreneurial you can use them as a business address
Ease of entry: Pretty simple
Membership cost: Annual subs of £1,750 plus there’s no joining fee. This also gets you in at their Moorgate Club, so double whammy.
Where: 1 Change Alley, The City, EC3V 3ND
Website: www.eightclub.co.uk
Great for: Oenophiles
Who goes here: People who actually know about and care about fine wine
Key membership benefits: The cellar, they’ve got over 5,000 bottles on the club list
Ease of entry: Two proposers required
Membership cost: £1,750 joining fee and £2,000 per year
67 Pall Mall
The perfect home for the oenophiles out there, 67 Pall Mall revels in its shamelessly epicurean origins and smart location, squeezed between St James’s Palace and the Oxford and Cambridge Club. The passion is, of course, fine wine, which is the lifeblood of 67 Pall Mall. But far from extravagance, the premise of this private members club was in fact thrift – a backlash against the extortionate wine-markup charged by London’s restaurants and bars.
Members can store up to 36 bottles of their own wine in the club, to be enjoyed at will, or can dip into the 5,000 bottles on the club list – the most valuable being safely stowed deep in the club’s vault. So popular is the club that it was forced to close its membership list before even opening its doors!
Where: 67 Pall Mall, St. James’s, SW1Y 5ES
Website: www.67pallmall.co.uk
House of St Barnabas
A clash of 18th century grandeur and modernity, The House of St Barnabas goes out of its way to redefine the private members club image, not least by combining the pleasures of clubbing in every sense (except seal) with a commitment to social responsibility. A fully not-for-profit organisation, the club gives back to the community with programmes like the Employment Academy offering work experience to the homeless, and the donation of half of its events tickets to those who wouldn’t be able to afford it themselves.
Great for: Atmosphere and rare outdoor space in Soho
Who goes here: Clubbable types with a social conscience
Key membership benefits: Great parties
Ease of entry: Ideally two proposers, but coffee with the membership team will do instead
Membership cost: £825 per year and a £100 donation, plus £330 joining fee
Where: 1 Greek Street, Soho Square, Soho, W1D 4NQ
Website: www.hosb.org.uk
Black’s
Once home to Charles Fortnum (of ‘and Mason’ fame), this Soho townhouse now plays host to Black’s Club, an institution that’s enjoyed something of a recent revival. Despite spurious claims to having been formed in 1764 (when Samuel Johnson, David Garrick and Joshua Reynolds formed a supper club) history wasn’t really made until 1992 when Black’s launched with a reputation as an enjoyably ‘louche’ bohemian drinking den.
Today, perhaps with the wisdom of age, it has a more wholesome reputation and with the building restored to its original Georgian glory the private members club celebrates its supper club roots. Unassuming, it’s easily mistaken for someone’s actual house from outside, but inside is cosy and welcoming with a genuine home-from-home feel. All this is made all the more comfortable by one of the club’s key perks: it’s dog-friendly! So your four-legged friend can laze in front of the open fire while you enjoy all the spoils of the dinner menu.
Where: 67 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4QH
Website: www.blacksclub.com
Great for: Dog lovers! And anyone looking for a truly traditional Georgian feel
Who goes here: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rhys Ifans and John Culshaw are apparently all members
Key membership benefits: Entry to London’s cosiest club
Ease of entry: Members must be ‘extraordinarily interesting and interested’ to be considered
Membership cost: £250 joining fee and £525 per year
Great for: The health conscious
Who goes here: Yummy mummies, upmarket healthy international types and South Ken locals
Key membership benefits: Wellness facilities, not least a traditional Russian Banya
Ease of entry: Good manners and discretion, apply to the membership committee
Membership cost: £950 joining fee and £3,900 per year
South Kensington Club
Formerly Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood’s socialite-heavy Harrington Club, The South Kensington Club has gone a very different direction now. For all our emphasis on luxury and maybe a little excess, The South Kensington Club is the destination to rest and restore yourself. That’s not to say, however, that The South Kensington Club doesn’t offer splendour – quite the opposite – but the club’s pleasures are health-oriented, seeking wellness and relaxation.
Home to yoga and boxing classes, Russian saunas, a plunge pool and Reformer Pilates, the private members club is essentially a masterclass in the art of the detox. If the skylit gym has you feeling a little weary, don’t panic – you can put your feet up with a host of their holistic treatments, and relax in the tea library. If you’re ready to start the party again, however, there’s no need to look elsewhere; The South Kensington Club also boasts a club lounge and terrace, hidden in a jungle of Mediterranean trees – what’s not to love?
Where: 38-42 Harrington Road, South Kensington, SW7 3ND
Website: www.southkensingtonclub.com
Great for: The music nights and leading DJs
Who goes here: Mainly youngish, Chelsea types
Key membership benefits: Members receive complimentary entry to Raffles Club
Ease of entry: Members without a proposer can opt to be interviewed by the committee
Membership cost: £250 joining fee, £650 annual fee
Albert’s at Beaufort House
Albert’s, the South Ken club, is a South Ken club no more, because now it’s a Chelsea private members club, having come to settle in Beaufort House. The move has breathed fresh air into the venture, and the location is perfect for that corner spot that nobody seems able to make work until now (it was an ASK for a while, among other guises). Alberts, spread over four floors, is a great fit, perfect for a Chelsea clientele keen not to make the trip into central London. The revamped look is pretty slick too. Meanwhile, Beaufort House remains open-to-business to non-members.
Where: 354 King’s Road, Chelsea, SW3 5UZ
Website: www.beauforthousechelsea.co.uk
Great for: Non-conformists plus anyone who doesn’t live north of the river!
Who goes here: Alternative professionals
Key membership benefits: What about tequila in the loos couldn’t you like?
Ease of entry: Apply online
Membership cost: £150 joining fee and £840 per year
The Ministry
Finally! We’re south of the river! And that’s the only jab in the eye The Ministry has for the establishment. Set in a Southwark former printworks, the club, an offshoot of Ministry of Sound, couldn’t’ be further from the over-the-top likes of some Mayfair clubs, or the too-cool-for-school Soho ones, The Ministry is chill and fun. And it’s a great place to get work done too.
The private members club has its own 40 seat cinema, a great co-working space, a heated terrace, London’s largest copper bar and they’ve even got a tequila and mezcal bar in the actual loos.
Where: 79-81 Borough Road, Southwark, SE1 1DN
Website: www.theministry.com
The Groucho Club
If you haven’t got a copy of OK Magazine to hand then don’t worry, simply head to The Groucho Club and see anyone who’s anyone in the flesh instead. The sometimes discreet, sometimes outrageous Soho private members club is a mecca for London’s media types, with no visit complete without meeting at least a handful of your heroes from stage and screen and at least one popstar to boot.
Launched in the ’80s, the club takes its name from Groucho Marx, who famously exclaimed that he wouldn’t be a member of any club that would accept him as a member.
A mecca for London’s media types.
Where: The Groucho Club, 45 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4QB
Website: www.thegrouchoclub.com
Great for: Celebrity spotting and enjoying art
Who goes here: The great and the good of the stage, screen and charts, plus scurrilous journalists. 90s names like Alex James, Kate Moss, Damien Hirst and Peter Blake hang out with the likes of Nick Grimshaw, Harry Styles and co
Key membership benefits: Two fantastic restaurants and one of London’s most exclusive hangouts, plus the club aims to counter male culture by maintaining a majority women membership
Ease of entry: Tricky, members must’ve achieved something ‘significant’ in the arts, be proposed and seconded by members and considered by a discerning membership committee
Membership cost: £950 annual subscription plus £250 joining fee
