5 Hertford Street (Loulou's)

5 Hertford Street occupies a run of Georgian houses on the corner of Shepherd Market, at the quiet edge of Mayfair. Robin Birley opened it in 2012 and gave the interiors to the designer Rifat Ozbek, whose rooms read like a private house rather than a club: painted panelling, deep upholstery, open fires and a family art collection hung close. Members move through five floors of restaurants, bars, a courtyard and a roof terrace, the mood shifting from drawing-room calm by day to something warmer after dark.

Below stairs is Loulou's, the club's nightclub, named for Birley's cousin Loulou de la Falaise and kept deliberately dim. It has its own dancefloor, bar and resident DJs, and is the natural setting for a late, music-led private party. Photography is not permitted inside, which is part of why the club has stayed as discreet as it has.

Access runs through membership, and private events are arranged the way the house is used to being booked: through a member, so the rooms, the discretion and the guest list stay in the right hands. The upstairs dining rooms, the courtyard and the roof terrace suit smaller gatherings; Loulou's takes the night on. Enquire to begin.