East India Club

Members' ClubUp to 200 guests

/ About

The East India Club was founded in 1849 and has its clubhouse at 16 St James's Square. Its rooms carry the club's history fairly literally. The Waterloo Room is where, on 21 June 1815, Major Henry Percy presented the Prince Regent with Wellington's victory despatch and four captured French eagles, before the news was announced from the balcony to the crowd below. The Canadian Room is named for the Canadian Forces officers who, after the centre of the building was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War, donated the timber that rebuilt it and shipped it from Vancouver. Its raftered ceiling and heraldic shields are that timber.

Ten rooms are available for private use. The Smoking Room, on the first floor directly above the main dining room, is the largest: 1,710 sq ft of Chesterfields, chess tables and portraits, taking 200 for a reception. The main Dining Room seats 120 and looks over the square and its lit gas flambeaux, though the club releases it on only a limited number of days each year. Below those sit the East India Room (100 for a reception, 80 dining), the Clive Room, hung with paintings of India in the times of the Raj, the Waterloo and Canadian Rooms, and the Hogarth Room under a double-height ceiling. The cellars, which run beneath St James's Square, hold the wine and port.

Hire runs through a member. Rooms are booked by members and by members of the club's reciprocal clubs, who host the event and settle the bill, so an evening here needs a member to sponsor it rather than a booking made off the street. The club keeps a formal dress code, and the timings are its own: function bars close at 11pm and guests leave by 11.30pm, which makes this a room for a dinner or a reception rather than a late night.

/ Rooms Available

Smoking Room

Private

Up to 200

The club's largest room, on the first floor directly above the main dining room. Chesterfield club chairs and sofas, writing desks and chess tables sit under portraits and a decorated cornice, with windows on two sides. Day to day it is the room members read in; for an event it takes 200 for a reception.

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Dining Room

Private

Seats 120

The main dining room of the club, on the ground floor, looking over St James's Square and its lit gas flambeaux. It is normally reserved for members and for club functions, but by special arrangement it is released on a limited number of days each year for private dinners of up to 120, served from the adjacent kitchens and the cellars beneath the square.

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East India Room

Private

Seats 80 / Up to 100

A ground-floor room with the same facilities as the main Dining Room on a smaller scale: 1,120 sq ft under a gilded cornice, with a fireplace, tall arched windows and oil portraits. It works either as a dining room for 80 or as a reception for 100.

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Clive Room

Private

Seats 40 / Up to 80

At ground-floor level in the heart of the club, hung with paintings of India in the times of the Raj. It takes 40 for dinner, 80 for a reception or 26 around a boardroom table, and has natural daylight on one side.

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Waterloo Room

Private

Up to 80

A first-floor drawing room overlooking St James's Square, with a chandelier, swagged curtains and armchairs, kept for light refreshment and drinks from the bar. It was in this room that Major Henry Percy delivered Wellington's Waterloo despatch to the Prince Regent on 21 June 1815. Available for receptions of up to 80 on Saturdays.

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Canadian Room

Private

Seats 32 / Up to 60

A first-floor room under an open timber roof, built with wood shipped from Vancouver and donated by the Canadian Forces after the centre of the club was bombed in the Second World War. Heraldic shields line the beams, a wrought-iron chandelier hangs over the table, and the room has its own bar. It seats 32 for dinner or holds 60 for a reception.

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Hogarth Room

Private

Up to 60

On the second floor, under a double-height ceiling, with two chandeliers and tall windows onto St James's Square. It holds 60 for a reception, 40 theatre style or 20 around a boardroom table.

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Conference Room

Private

Seats 8

A first-floor room lined with glazed bookcases and green damask, overlooking the well of the building. It seats 8 around a boardroom table and is used for meetings, with refreshments and light meals served in.

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