Army and Navy Club

Founded in 1837 for officers of the Army, Navy and Royal Marines and known to its members as The Rag, the Club has stood on Pall Mall since the mid-nineteenth century, its present ten-floor clubhouse opened in 1963 on the site of the original. The Duke of Wellington was the Club's first patron, and the building's seven banqueting rooms carry the names and colours of the regimental history around them: the crimson Wellington Room, the navy-panelled Nelson Room hung with maritime prints, the colonial-toned Clive Room overlooking St James's Square gardens.

The two largest spaces anchor the Club's private-hire offer. The Pall Mall Room runs the width of the building with dual-aspect windows over Pall Mall, a stage and dance floor built in, and a wedding licence; next door, the Drawing Room's crystal chandeliers and connecting sitting room can be opened up or divided into two smaller suites. Down a half-flight, the Library keeps its floor-to-ceiling shelves in place around the dining tables, useful for a dinner that wants a study rather than a ballroom.

Seventy-five en-suite bedrooms and an underground car park round out what is, in effect, a private hotel behind a members' entrance. The Club's banqueting rooms are available for private hire, from a four-seat meeting in the Barnes Room to a two-hundred-guest reception in the Pall Mall Room.