Lobby Bar at The London EDITION

Set within The London EDITION on Fitzrovia's Berners Street, the Lobby Bar occupies the hotel's original 1911 great room. Ian Schrager left the ornate plaster ceiling and marble columns intact and hung a vast mirrored orb over the floor, so the room reflects itself back at every angle. A working fireplace anchors one end beneath an equestrian portrait; a long bar framed by tall antique-mirrored arches runs the other. Tufted sofas, green velvet seating and a snooker table give the space the ease of a private drawing room rather than a hotel lounge.

The bar keeps late hours and a cocktail list built on twists of the classics, and it has become one of the hotel's signature spaces. It runs on walk-ins rather than reservations, which makes an exclusive evening here something arranged privately through the house rather than a published package.

Taken over for a private reception, the room carries a gathering easily: grand proportions and high ceilings for the arrival, quieter corners with sofas and firelight for later. It sits alongside the hotel's Punch Room and its basement event spaces, so an evening can move between rooms.