5 of London’s best clubhouse hotels

The Laslett taps into the quirky-cool English style of its Notting Hill neighborhood, occupying five classic white-stuccoed houses offering 51 high-ceilinged, light-filled bedrooms. Downstairs there is a clubby communal space with a library, bar, restaurant and lobby, which doubles as a work or party space for weekly oyster nights or talks with visiting speakers. Every design element in the hotel embraces the vibrant creativity of the community – in the bedrooms, there are artworks by Barbara Hulanicki of London fashion label Biba and antiques by the famous Jerome Dodd of nearby Golborne Road. Thoughtful touches such as cozy throws on the beds, scented candles and shelves of Penguin classics make staying here feel like home.

Straddling the east and west boundaries of the city, this is the Londoner’s London, its creative hub, with more architecture and fashion studios and design showrooms than you can shake an HB pencil at. The Zetter, a converted Victorian warehouse on the cobbled corner of St John’s Square, exudes the youthful, energetic vibe of its locale. There’s a 360º approach to sustainable living here (including water pumped from its own borehole, eco-friendly materials, thorough recycling and fair-trade produce in the restaurants), free Brompton bikes for guests’ use, and new show-stopping top-floor suites with freestanding bathtubs on the terraces enjoying views across the city skyline.

Scarcely a season has passed since its launch, but White City House vibrates to the sound of raucous, cocktail-soaked laughter and music from the moment you enter the dark lobby bar and entrance in what used to be the iconic headquarters of the BBC. Now reimagined as a hotel, clubhouse, rooftop pool and bar, vast gym and screening rooms by the Soho House Group, bedrooms pay homage to the late ’60s with Formica terrazzo tables, patterned tiles and George Nelson lamps.

As old as Soho itself, Kettner’s Townhouse was formerly a French restaurant where clients – including Oscar Wilde and reputedly Edward VII – brought their ‘lunchtime lovers’. The whiff of sin and raffish glamor has not been lost in the recent restoration (again by Soho House), which has salvaged the original mosaic floor in the Champagne Bar and repaired listed moldings and mirrors in the dining room. Bedrooms tap into the seductive style of the boudoir, with complexion-flattering tasseled light shades and bathtubs in the rooms. Rainfall showers come with an array of 10 different Cowshed products. The restaurant also remains a highlight, with British-sourced produce such as Exmoor Caviar and Wiltshire truffles on the menu. And there is perhaps no better place for a reasonably priced glass of champagne than in its dedicated Champagne Bar.

Founded in 1863 by ‘men of vision’, including Charles Dickens, as a haven for people connected to the arts, literature or science, this private members club now has 16 sensational Art Deco-style suites. There are two restaurants (British and Japanese), a courtyard garden and a nightclub, Leo’s, but the array of visiting musicians, artists, speakers and cultural events are what make The Arts Club really stand apart. The acclaimed Lanserhof medi-spa is now set to open its first British outpost here this year, and the Arts Club formula will be replicated in cities such as LA and Dubai by 2020.