Claridge's Bar

Claridge's Bar occupies a corner of the Brook Street grande dame that has drawn Mayfair since the 1850s. When David Collins Studio was invited to create it in 1998, it was the hotel's first major designer intervention since the Art Deco years, and the room reads that way still: a silver-leafed ceiling, a green Murano glass chandelier, walls in gold burl wood, and red leather banquettes ranged around a curved bar with a backlit spirits display.

The bar trades on champagne above all, with a deep list of rare marques and vintage cuvées alongside a collection of Prohibition-era whiskies and the house cocktails, the Claridge's Martini and The Flapper among them. Caviar blinis and the Claridge's burger cover the kitchen side. The room stays open until 1am from Monday to Saturday, which makes it one of the later addresses in Mayfair for a drink of this order.

Adjoining the bar is The Snuggery, an intimate room lined in teal with black-and-white portraits, which seats up to 20 and can be taken in its entirety for a private lunch or cocktail reception. The bar itself can be arranged for private use through the house rather than as an off-the-shelf package, and any event here carries the address that has stood behind it for more than a century.