Behind closed doors

Forget secret handshakes and men-only establishments – Jenny Southan investigates London’s new breed of private members’ clubs.

Back in the 18th century, pipe-smoking cads would join a club to mingle with fellow aristocrats, talk politics and indulge in otherwise illicit gambling. But as more and more men earned the right to vote (before the 1867 Reform Act, only one in five adult males in England and Wales could do so), they, too, felt they deserved to reap the benefits of becoming a“gentleman”. Applications to establishments such as Brooks’s and Boodle’s, founded in the 1760s, duly went through the roof.

To satisfy demand, hundreds of new clubs opened, each with its own rules and a membership united by similar interests and backgrounds – the East India Club attracted British expats and diplomats, for example, while the Reform Club was for liberal MPs and the RAC for motorists. Educated ladies got in on the act, too, setting up the likes of the University Women’s Club.

Amazingly, all these establishments continue to operate today. But along with the old-school institutions of St James’s and the West End, the London club scene has continued to evolve – from exclusive sixties nightspots such as Tramp and Annabel’s, to the birth of Soho’s Groucho in 1985, seen as the first contemporary club of its kind, with laid-back bars, restaurants, event spaces and changing exhibitions for its creative-industry audience.

Then came Soho House in the nineties, and Shoreditch House, the Ivy Club, Eight Club and Hospital Club in the noughties, each carving its own niche and placing an emphasis not only on providing a “second home” and a place in town to bring friends for dinner or drinks, but a refuge to conduct meetings, do freelance work or even set up a business.

Today, a number of venues are targeting corporates by bridging the gap between clubs and serviced offices – the newly opened Dryland (see opposite) not only has cosy fireside armchairs to sit with a laptop but pods and boardrooms for hire, while Mayfair’s Clubhouse (pictured above) is equipped with hot desks and offers day passes. Designed for the founders of tech start-ups, Central Working has clubs with cafés and communal workspace in Bloomsbury, Shoreditch and Old Street’s Google Campus.

Meanwhile, long-standing clubs such as Morton’s and Home House have had to find new ways to attract the in-crowd. The former opened nightclub 2&8 in September, while the latter has undergone extensive renovations in the past few years.

Despite growth in the market, the most popular clubs still tend to have long waiting lists and may be impossible to get into unless you are the guest of a member. Business Traveller was declined a tour of two of London’s most coveted new members’ clubs as they didn’t want the publicity – the £20 million 5 Hertford Street in Shepherd Market, launched last year by ex-Annabel’s owner Robin Birley, and a new outpost for the Soho House Group, Little House, which opened in Mayfair last spring.

All is not lost, though. Here is our pick of new and recently renovated clubs in the capital.

The Clubhouse

Filling the gap between serviced offices and members’ clubs, this smart, businesslike daytime venue opened in October and already has about 180 members who avail of its facilities to work and meet clients. Set over two floors, it has five meeting rooms, flexible open-plan work space, hot desks, a lounge with PCs and Macs, mobile and laptop charging lockers, soundproof phone booths, free wifi, a shower, and free soft drinks. No food is served but you can bring your own or arrange for catering provided by Piccadilly’s Criterion restaurant. There are regular events with high-profile speakers, such as former Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson, as well as tutored wine tastings and a book club hosted by guest authors such as Rasmus Ankersen, writer of The Goldmine Effect. Five more Clubhouses are being planned throughout London over the next few years.

• WHO’S IT FOR? Entrepreneurs, freelancers and business people working in property, tech, financial services, PR, consulting, HR and recruitment, and telecoms.
• OPENING HOURS 7.30am-7pm
• MEMBERSHIP RATES Day membership £30; individual membership £145-£195 a month or £1,595-£2,145 a year; corporate membership £245-£365 a month or £2,695-£3,905 a year.
• theclubhouselondon.com

Dryland

A stylish choice for those who are serious about using a club for work, Dryland opened on Kensington High Street in November 2011 and provides three membership options – either general use of the shared facilities, one of 130 dedicated self-enclosed pods (for up to four people) or one of 55 serviced offices (for up to eight delegates). It is also looking to open a number of “business penthouses” and “sky suites” at the top of the building. The street-accessible ground-floor café displays delicious homemade cakes, and a “room service” button is available on every phone so you can order meals and drinks (8am-8pm) to your desk.

Connected by a sweeping white spiral staircase, interiors are modern and airy, with a space-age look that is brought to life with Damian Hirst butterfly wallpaper, bronze sculptures of monkeys and abstract artwork. Facilities across the club’s five floors also include a screening room, showers, lockers, boardrooms with Paul Smith chairs, cosy lounge areas and an open-air terrace. A chauffeur-driven Maserati is available on request (£40 an hour) and there is super-fast free wifi. There are plans to open up to 20 sites throughout the capital, including in Holborn, the City, Canary Wharf and Covent Garden.

• WHO’S IT FOR? Coffeeshop CEOs, freelancers, entrepreneurs, and local business people working in property, finance, lifestyle, health and fitness, entertainment and media.
• OPENING HOURS 24/7
• MEMBERSHIP RATES Three tiers – Member from £166 a month, Pod from £959 a month, First from £1,679 a month.
• dryland.com

Grace Belgravia

This sleek, tranquil club opened in a Grade II Listed building in Belgravia last year and provides a place for high-powered businessswomen to work, recharge and relax, as well as gain access to top-class medical treatment (the colon cleanse is particularly popular). Birdsong plays in some of the public spaces, the light-filled restaurant specialises in raw food, and the Library is a chilled-out place to tap into the free wifi.

The beautiful Acqua Calda spa sports a herbal sauna, hammam, Vichy shower, dry flotation room, salon and five treatment rooms, while the Matt Roberts gym is equipped with free weights, Kinesis and Precor machines. There are also regular pilates, dance and yoga classes. All new members get a sign-up assessment and access to “angels” who help them to book appointments with the in-house nutritionists, GPs, physiotherapists and consultants working in everything from fertility and stress to sleep science and genomics.

• WHO’S IT FOR? Health-conscious women.
• OPENING HOURS 6.30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 8am-8pm weekends.
• MEMBERSHIP RATES Full member £5,500 a year plus £2,000 joining fee; Overseas member £3,500 a year plus £1,500 fee; Weekend £2,800 a year plus £500 fee. Additional treatments and consultations are extra.
• gracebelgravia.com

Playboy Club

Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club returned to London in summer 2011, after the original nightspot closed in 1981. Located on a side street off Park Lane, the venue is best suited for entertaining, although some members use it for corporate events and meeting clients. (Receipts discreetly refer to the venue as “PCL”.)

On one side of the ground floor is the dark, suave cocktail bar Salvatore at Playboy, specialising in unique creations from Italian “Maestro” Salvatore Calabrese. On the other is Baroque, a vintage champagne and caviar club, while upstairs is the Players Lounge sports bar, casino, 47-seat restaurant headed up by top chef Judy Joo, two private dining rooms and cigar terrace. There is also a grooming salon. For anyone unsure about the bunnies’ job description, there is no stripping or lap-dancing, just charming girls serving cocktails or working as croupiers. Everything is entirely above board and 40 per cent of members are women.

• WHO’S IT FOR? Celebrities, musicians, sports personalities, doctors, lawyers, media professionals, traders and bankers.
• OPENING HOURS Casino and Players Lounge open 24 hours; Salvatore Sun-Tues 6pm-2am, Wed-Sat until 3am; Baroque Tues-Sat 10pm-4am; Dining Room 12pm-1am. 
• MEMBERSHIP RATES £2,200 for the first year, £1,200 a year thereafter.
• playboyclublondon.com

Home House

Overlooking leafy Portman Square, just off Oxford Street, this well-established club opened in 1998 and is made up of three 18th-century adjoining townhouses (19, 20 and 21) with colourful histories – for six decades, two were leased to the Courtauld Institute of Art, the director of which was art historian and secret Soviet spy Anthony Blunt. House 21 is the newest, having opened in 2010 after being given a contemporary new look by interior designers Candy and Candy and architect Zaha Hadid, who created its giant gold bar. House 19’s Bison bar and first-floor fine-dining restaurant were revamped last autumn. The result is a maze-like club full of dozens of grand, high-ceilinged rooms, each with their own ambiance and décor – much of it is old-fashioned opulence – and more than 100 fireplaces.

Members also have access to a walled garden, a well-equipped gym, cavernous nightclub, 20 bedrooms and monthly events, from live cabaret to debates, as well as extravagant annual fancy dress parties. In the daytime, people come to find a cosy corner to work or conduct meetings, while in the evening they kick back and enjoy themselves. A real home away from home. 

• WHO’S IT FOR? An eclectic mix of ages and types – from international jetsetters and serial entrepreneurs to performers and life coaches.
• OPENING HOURS Vary depending on which part of the house – earliest 6.30am, latest 3am.
• MEMBERSHIP RATES Full individual membership £1,840 plus £1,840 joining fee; Social membership £840 plus £420 joining fee; Overseas £1,215 plus £1,215 joining fee. 
• homehouse.co.uk

The Arts Club

The Arts Club originally opened in 1863 on Hanover Square, with Charles Dickens one of its co-founders. In 1896, it moved to its current location on Mayfair’s Dover Street and, in 2011, a lavish renovation was completed. Over the decades it has had many famous guests and members – from Rudyard Kipling and Auguste Rodin to Gwyneth Paltrow and Grayson Perry. Upon entering the warmth of this grand townhouse, there is a buzzing ground-floor brasserie to the right, which leads on to a Tuscan courtyard garden and heated smoking lounge. Upstairs is the cosy Drawing room, commonly used for reading, working or intimate meetings, while an adjacent restaurant offers afternoon tea and DJs in the evening. Changing exhibitions of art, much of it valuable, are on display throughout, and there are regular events – from curated talks to screenings. There is a 120-capacity Parisian-style cabaret club in the basement that has regular performances and can be hired for private parties, and even an in-house band.

• WHO’S IT FOR? Art collectors, painters, philanthropists, architects, authors, musicians, dancers, film directors, scientists, actors, Royal Academicians, gallery owners and agents.
• OPENING HOURS 7.30am-1am Mon-Tues, 7.30am-3am Wed-Fri, 10.30am-3am Sat, 10.30am-12am Sun.
• MEMBERSHIP RATES £1,500 a year plus a £2,000 joining fee.
• theartsclub.co.uk

Apartment 58

Located on Soho’s Poland Street for less than a year, arty club Apartment 58 was due to reopen in its new Centre Point premises as we went to press. Business Traveller had a sneak preview while it was being furnished. The light-filled venue will have a ground-floor bar serving street food, a concept fashion store and a Missoni-designed area with workstations for students, who get special rates. On the mezzanine is a U-shaped bar that will feature furniture from the 50s and 60s. Free super-fast broadband will be provided, and iPads and laptops will be on hand to borrow. The basement will feature two meeting spaces with slices of ancient tree trunks as tables, and washrooms designed by Zaha Hadid. In the evenings there will be DJ sets, parties, networking events, fashion showcases and screenings. Apartment 58 is looking to expand in Notting Hill, Shoreditch, Berlin, New York and Mumbai over the next few years. 

• WHO’S IT FOR? Students and professionals working in art, design, music, technology and fashion.
• OPENING HOURS 8am-4am daily.
• MEMBERSHIP RATES Centre Point membership £400 a year, City membership £550 a year, Global £730 a year. Joining fee £70.
• apartment58.com