Mayfair private members clubs sit behind some of the plainest doors in London W1. A brass plate and a doorman give little away, yet the rooms on the other side have shaped the district's evenings since the 1860s. This piece explains where the clubs are, how membership works, what the house rules ask of a guest, and how a Mayfair evening runs today.
The clubs cluster within a few streets of each other in the City of Westminster, north of Piccadilly and around Berkeley Square, which is why an evening here can take in more than one of them on foot. Annabel's on Berkeley Square is the best known, but it is one of several, and each runs to its own rules. Every fee and rule below is attributed to its source, because these details change and the clubs publish few of them.
What are Mayfair's private members' clubs
Mayfair's private members' clubs are invitation-led clubs, mostly in Georgian townhouses on Berkeley Square, Dover Street, Charles Street, Albemarle Street and Hertford Street. Members pay a joining fee and an annual subscription for restaurants, bars and lounges that are closed to the public. Guests enter only with a member.
Of all the private members clubs London has, the oldest model still at work is here. The Arts Club on Dover Street was founded in 1863 by a group that included Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope, along with the painter Frederic Leighton, as a meeting place for people working in or supporting the arts, according to its history. It has been at 40 Dover Street since the 1890s.
The modern version arrived a century later and is closely tied to one family. Mark Birley opened Annabel's in 1963 at 44 Berkeley Square, naming it after his wife, Lady Annabel. He followed it with Mark's Club on Charles Street in 1972. His son, Robin Birley, runs 5 Hertford Street. In 2018 Robin opened Oswald's at 25 Albemarle Street, named after his grandfather, the portrait painter Oswald Birley.
That family thread explains a good deal. Several of the best-known Mayfair private members clubs were founded by a Birley, and their manners, from the dress code down to the lighting, still carry the founder's taste.
How the clubs grew up around Berkeley Square
Start with the square itself. Berkeley Square was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, and its London plane trees, planted in 1789, are among the oldest in central London. The houses around it were built for aristocratic families, with tall windows and generous staircases on a scale a club can use.
A Georgian townhouse already stacks a reception room over a dining room over a drawing room. A club can move in without rebuilding, keep the front door unmarked, and let the street look residential.
Annabel's shows how far that idea can be stretched. Mark Birley sold Annabel's and his other clubs to the restaurateur Richard Caring in 2007. In 2018 the club moved two doors along to 46 Berkeley Square, a house that had spent decades as offices, including as the London headquarters of the Chase Manhattan Bank. Its facade on the west side of the square is one of the district's landmarks.
Older Mayfair sits a few minutes away. Edward Shepherd built up Shepherd Market between 1735 and 1746, on the ground of the annual May fair that gave the district its name. Its lanes, tucked between Piccadilly and Curzon Street, have always been the public counterpart to the private houses around them.
How does membership of a Mayfair club work
Joining a Mayfair club usually starts with registering interest with the club or an introduction from a member, and the decision rests with the club. Fees are published unevenly. Luxury London's 2026 guide lists Annabel's at £3,250 a year with a £1,250 joining fee, and The Arts Club at £3,200 a year with a £1,600 joining fee.
Reported figures for 5 Hertford Street put annual membership at £3,500. According to the same guide, Annabel's offers a reduced rate to applicants under 35 and The Arts Club to those under 33. Treat every figure as a starting point to confirm with the club, not a price list.
The house rules matter as much as the fee. Annabel's published guidance asks members and guests to dress in a way that is tasteful and sophisticated, and rules out overly casual clothing such as hoodies or tracksuits. Its current dress code was devised in 2017 by Derek Blasberg, replacing the dark suit and tie that Mark Birley once insisted on.
Phones are the other test. Under the club's rules as published, mobile phones are kept on silent at all times. Calls and laptops are allowed only in the First Floor Lounge, and only until 6pm.
Quiet, it turns out, is part of what members pay for.
How a Mayfair evening runs today
Green Park station, served by the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, is the usual way in. From the station the clubs lie north of Piccadilly in a tight grid. Albemarle Street and Dover Street run up from Piccadilly towards Berkeley Square, where Charles Street leads off to the west. Hertford Street and Shepherd Market sit to the south-west, towards Park Lane.
An evening often begins with a drink in one house and moves to dinner in another, with the walk between them measured in minutes. On foot, Oswald's on Albemarle Street is a short stroll from Annabel's, and Mark's Club on Charles Street is closer still. The pace is slower than in the West End's bars a few streets east.
For anyone without a membership, Mayfair still offers the same streets after dark. The Arts Club on Dover Street is a members' house, but the restaurants of Shepherd Market and Mount Street are open to everyone. The square itself, under those 1789 plane trees, is free.
Where the new generation of Mayfair money spends its leisure
The membership of these clubs has changed more than the rooms. Reduced rates for under-35s and under-33s show the clubs courting younger members, whose diaries look very different from those of the 1960s.
Much of that generation's leisure now happens at home. Private dinners and screenings share the calendar with online entertainment that ranges from chess tournaments to bitcoin casino games, often on the same evening as a club dinner. Online play is for adults aged 18 and over only, and should always be kept within limits; free support is available at BeGambleAware.org.
The clubs have adapted rather than resisted, and their house rules show what they are selling. Annabel's spreads across several floors at 46 Berkeley Square. It keeps phones silent, sends laptops downstairs by evening, and asks its guests to dress for the room. What draws members of every age is a space in Mayfair where nobody is filming and nobody is in a hurry.
For a first Mayfair evening, the practical route is simple. Arrive at Green Park, walk up Dover Street to Berkeley Square, and settle the dress code before you leave home. If a member has invited you, ask which rules apply that night, phones above all. If not, our guide to Shepherd Market covers the pubs and restaurants open to everyone, a short walk away.
