The Library Bar at The Lanesborough

The Library Bar sits inside The Lanesborough at Hyde Park Corner, the Oetker Collection hotel on the edge of Knightsbridge and Belgravia. It is a wood-panelled, club-like room of polished mahogany shelving, a working fireplace, oil portraits and green leather tub chairs, lit by a central chandelier beneath a coffered ceiling. The mood is unhurried and distinctly British, drawing residents from the surrounding squares as readily as hotel guests.

The bar is best known for its spirits collection, a working archive of cognacs and whiskies with bottles dating back to 1770. Under bar manager Mickael Perron the cellar has grown into one of the most serious in London, and guests are encouraged to taste their way through it rather than simply admire it. Award-winning bartenders mix classic and contemporary cocktails, and a resident pianist plays alongside weekly acoustic singers on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Adjoining the bar is the Withdrawing Room, the hotel's gilded Regency drawing room, finished with hand-painted trompe-l'oeil marbling, chandeliers and a deep green carpet. Together the two rooms make an intimate, characterful setting for a private drinks reception or celebration, with the hotel's full catering behind them. The bar holds a late licence to 1am at the end of the week. Enquire for private hire.