BEAT London

BEAT trades at 48 Margaret Street, in a renovated speakeasy whose past the club traces through Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and Bob Marley. David Bowie played the address; King Crimson made their debut in it.

The renovation kept the dark panelling and built around it. Terrazzo underfoot, low leather banquettes behind brass rails, a black star on the wall above the floor, and a long bar with a lit backbar and a cocktail list to match. Lighting is dynamic rather than decorative, and the club puts its in-house sound system and the acoustics of the room at the front of everything it says about itself.

Membership governs the door; private hire does not. The whole 250-capacity space goes by arrangement through the club's own events contact, with the bar, the club room and the DJ booth taken together.