Maggie's Club

Tucked beneath Fulham Road, Maggie's has been Chelsea's resident 80s throwback since 2010, the work of the Inception Group and named with a wink at Margaret Thatcher. Descend the neon-painted staircase and the decade closes over you: UV-lit walls papered in VHS sleeves, cartoon murals, a giant retro fish tank, Rubik's Cube tables and zebra-print booths, with Thatcher's speeches looping in the loos for anyone who needs reminding where they are.

The layout is a single basement room built around the dancefloor, so a private hire takes the whole place rather than a roped-off corner. Themed booths line the edges, the long mirrored bar runs down one side, and the DJ holds the room with synthpop, rock anthems and pop from the decade that decor never left. It is loud, kitsch and deliberately unserious, the rare central-London room where a guest list can let go completely.

For a private DJ event the appeal is the energy and the look: a sound system and booth already built for a packed floor, a late licence into the small hours, and a backdrop no studio could fake. We use it for birthdays and parties that want spectacle over restraint, with up to 180 guests on an exclusive takeover.