Riot clubs: London's new wave of posh private members' clubs

The capital is bursting with upmarket new private members’ joints. Joshi Herrmann is on the list
Arty: L’Escargot’s Upstairs Club
Joshi Herrmann2 October 2014

The so-called ‘posh revival’ is nowhere more evident than in the spate of new private members’ clubs in London. The capital’s nightlife entrepreneurs have noticed that their wealthy patrons are ready to cough up membership fees again and have responded vigorously, with new clubs catering to every type of successful Londoner now only a steep sign-on fee away. With another club from the Home House group now expected in central London next year, here’s our round-up of the latest openings you can already find a seconder for.

FRENCHIE FOODIES: Upstairs Club at L’Escargot

What: Soho’s reorientation from strip clubs to members’ clubs took another step forward a fortnight ago with the opening of the Upstairs Club at London’s oldest French restaurant, L’Escargot. The 280-year-old town house now has six rooms for paying members, including a large, bright, barrel-vaulted room called the Salon Grande Siècle. Its founders — restaurateurs Laurence Isaacson, co-founder of Home House, and Brian Clivaz, the man responsible for the relaunch of Mayfair’s Arts Club — have spent big on art, with Dalí and Matisse on the walls. “Membership is defined by friendship with the owners and a liberal attitude to the arts and sciences — and life as it should be enjoyed,” it says, and it costs £365, a pound a day. Jonathan Saunders and i-D magazine held their London Fashion Week afterparty at the club.

Where: 48 Greek Street, W1, lescargotrestaurant.co.uk

MEDIA MOVERS: Soho House

What: As if the “tieless classes” who frequent Nick Jones’s Soho House empire are not satisfied with clubs in Chicago, Mayfair, Miami, Berlin, Hollywood, Shoreditch and New York, another is opening on Dean Street in May 2015, a stone’s throw from the original. In a 1732 town house, the club’s furniture and fireplaces will look a little more traditional than the others. It will be linked to membership of the rest of the group (£1,400), and Soho House-only members (£800) can use it while their club is being restored next year. Think three bars, open courtyard and basement cinema.

Where: 72-74 Dean Street, W1, sohohouselondon.com

FABERGÉ FITNESS: South Kensington Club

What: Want the diametric opposite of the newly popular east London boxing gyms? We’ve found it, in Francis Bacon’s former house in South Kensington. A members-only “wellness and health sanctuary”, the newly opened South Kensington Club, which costs an incredible £325 a month (£3,900 a year) with a £1,000 joining fee, has every facet of the lifestyle of Ladies Who Lunch covered. Its spa facilities include a Russian banya, Turkish hammams and London’s first saltwater watsu pool. But it has also employed Christine Franco, first woman to reach the South Pole, as an in-house travel expert, and has a lifestyle concierge on call. There is a restaurant that caters to members’ dietary requirements and a tea library with a “tea sommelier”.

Where: Queensberry Mews, SW7, southkensingtonclub.com

STARRY NIGHTS: The Club at Cafe Royal

What: Stars of fashion and music are traditionally too cool to join stuffy members clubs but the Café Royal hotel is trying to change that with The Club on its first floor. Stephen Fry, actress Emilia Fox and models Daisy Lowe and Arizona Muse are already said to be on The Club at Café Royal’s list, with access to its grand entertaining and dining spaces, as well as the hotel’s spa, Domino Dining Room restaurant and Oscar Wilde Bar, open until 3am Thursday to Saturday. There is a £1,200 joining fee and a £1,200 annual membership fee.

Where: 68 Regent Street, W1, clubcaferoyal.com

PRIVATE DANCERS: APM

What: People who dislike the idea of a members’ club should try out APM (Always Past Midnight) at the top of the Centre Point building — a collaboration between the Zinc restaurant and FOUR Magazine, which aims to revolutionise “London’s early-morning dining and party scene”. For £350-£500 per annum members can stumble in from Soho between 2.30am and 7am on Fridays and Saturdays for dancing and fine dining on the 31st floor.

Where: 101-103 New Oxford Street, WC1, zinc.uk.net

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