Christie's King Street

Christie's has occupied the same King Street address in St James's since 1823, and its principal salerooms remain among the most looked-at rooms in the London art world. Founded in 1766, the auction house rehangs its galleries for each sale, so a private event here borrows whatever is on the walls that week, from Old Master paintings to contemporary work waiting to go under the hammer.

Roughly 12,000 square feet across a series of interconnecting galleries can be taken for private hire, and the range is unusually wide: an intimate dinner in the panelled Boardroom at one end, a reception for several hundred through the main salerooms at the other. A dedicated events team handles each booking directly, with catering brought in for the occasion.

It reads unmistakably as St James's: high ceilings, a museum-grade hang and a Green Park address. That backdrop suits collectors' dinners, brand launches and charity receptions, where the art on the walls does most of the work.