Dukes London

Down a gas-lit cul-de-sac off St James's Place, Dukes London has held the same address since 1908. It is the discreet sort of London hotel that regulars guard: a red-brick townhouse with a Union Jack over the porch, a wood-panelled cage-lift that still creaks between the floors, and a lobby of oil paintings, gilded mirrors and wingback chairs. The hotel closed in January 2025 for a full refurbishment by Russell Sage Studio and reopens in 2026, its interiors reworked around the heritage of St James's while the rooms that made its name stayed exactly where they were.

Chief among those is Dukes Bar, the martini institution that stayed open throughout the works. Ian Fleming drank here, and the room is widely credited with 'shaken, not stirred'; the martinis are still built tableside from a trolley, poured from frozen bottles into iced glasses. The New York Times has called it one of the world's best. Beside it sits the new Delany Drawing Room, a whisky lounge named for the 18th-century botanical artist Mary Delany, its conservatory opening onto the Cognac & Cigar Garden.

For private events the hotel offers a spread of spaces. The St James Suite is the largest, on its own floor with a private entrance from Little St. James's Street, a cloakroom and a registration desk, taking up to 80 for a reception. The Great British Restaurant handles seated dinners and a semi-private area, while the Sheridan and Montrose suites suit smaller boardroom lunches and intimate dinners. Dukes Bar and the Delany Drawing Room can be reserved for drinks receptions with the martini service that made the address.