Bars & Pubs

Polo Bar

Polo eschews the bland international style of so many hotel bars in favour of gorgeous art deco fittings that are just the right side of opulent; that's one reason...

Mayfair: Westbury Hotel, New Bond Street, W1S 2YF

Distance: 0.1 mls

Mulligan's of Mayfair (branch of Balls Brothers)

Mayfair: 14 Cork Street, W1S 3NS

Distance: 0.1 mls

Donovan Bar

To get to the Donovan, you have to pass through an anonymous, standard-issue hotel bar, with acres of grey carpet and a pianist tinkling away in a corner. But don't...

Mayfair: Brown's Hotel, 33-34 Albemarle Street, W1S 4BP

Distance: 0.1 mls

Trader Vic's

It's hard to know quite who this place is aimed at: it's too far from any of the major rail terminals or theatres for the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, and hardly somewhere...

Mayfair: London Hilton, 22 Park Lane, W1K 4BE

Distance: 0.1 mls

Mô Tea Room

A small corner of the West End that is forever Marrakech. That, at least, is the idea, though the casbah chic (or is it kitsch?) here may be a little rich for some...

Mayfair: 25 Heddon Street, W1B 4BH

Distance: 0.2 mls

Only Running Footman

There's something gracious about many Mayfair pubs: disinclined to lay on satellite sport and all-night happy hours, the best retain an old-world charm. This is one...

Mayfair: 5 Charles Street, W1J 5DF

Distance: 0.2 mls

Absolut IceBar/BelowZero

IceBar, a collaboration between Absolut and the designers at Ice Hotel, is probably not a place at which to settle in for a long night's drinking: that's because the...

Mayfair: 29-33 Heddon Street, W1B 4BN

Distance: 0.2 mls

Claridge's Bar

When we visited Claridge's on a Thursday night, they were standing three-deep at the bar - eager, it seems, to pay, as we did, £19 and £20 respectively for glasses...

Mayfair: Claridge's Hotel, 49 Brook Street, W1K 4HR

Distance: 0.2 mls

Balls Brothers

Mayfair: 34 Brook Street, W1K 5DN

Distance: 0.2 mls

Mahiki

Regular and much-publicised patronage by junior members of the Royal Family means you'll have to queue to get in here, even midweek; though when you're in this Mayfair...

Mayfair: 1 Dover Street, W1S 4LD

Distance: 0.2 mls

Coburg Bar

Luxurious, elegant and discreet, this is everything a good hotel bar should be. From the criminally comfortable, grey velvet, wing-backed chairs and chic, black glass...

Mayfair: The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

Distance: 0.2 mls

Connaught Bar

Latest glam bar in The Connaught

Mayfair: 16 Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

Distance: 0.2 mls

Ain't Nothin' But... The Blues Bar

The current revival in live music has done nothing but benefit the honest-to-goodness Ain't Nothin' But... The Blues bar. As basic as the similarly titled 78 by...

Soho: 20 Kingly Street, W1B 5PZ

Distance: 0.3 mls

The Punch Bowl

Guy Ritchie's pub in Mayfair

Mayfair: 41 Farm St, W1J 5RP

Distance: 0.3 mls

Two Floors

Sparse, laid-back and bohemian, the two-floor Two Floors is understated and quite wonderful. Beers here are mainly bottled (Modelo Especial, Red Stripe, Brooklyn),...

Soho: 3 Kingly Street, W1B 5PD

Distance: 0.3 mls

Shampers

While many of the kids around Carnaby Street opt for the Puma shoes shop and assorted style bars, those with more experience drop into Shampers. Pinstripe suits and...

Soho: 4 Kingly Street, W1B 5PE

Distance: 0.3 mls

Rivoli at The Ritz

The Ritz's landmark bar was refurbished a few years ago, apparently tarted up to something like its 1920s glory. We've not seen photographs of how it looked in its...

St James's: Ritz Hotel, 150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR

Distance: 0.3 mls

Chopper Lump (branch of Davy's)

Mayfair: 10C Hanover Square, W1S 1HN

Distance: 0.3 mls

1707

Strange that this most traditional of London shops should have decided to import a flavour of the New World: its revamp has created a bar that wouldn't be out of place...

Piccadilly: Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, W1J 9FA

Distance: 0.6 mls

Aqua Spirit

High-end cocktail bar above Oxford Cirus

Oxford Street: Fifth Floor, 240 Regent St (entrance in Argyll St), W1B 3BR

Distance: 3563 mls

Old Coffee House

Slap in Soho bar central, this conspiratorially dark drinking den seems to have changed little since it first offered the eponymous coffee and idle chatter in the 18th...

Soho: 49 Beak Street, W1F 9SF

Distance: 0.3 mls

Argyll Arms

The clientele at the impressive, historic, frosted-glass-and-mahogany Argyll Arms is almost as transitory as Oxford Circus, a stone's throw away. The pub was just as...

Soho: 18 Argyll Street, W1F 7TP

Distance: 0.3 mls

Audley

This Mayfair institution has a lot going for it: a splendid, high-ceilinged Victorian interior with the requisite panelling and chandeliers, cask ales (Young's, London...

Mayfair: 41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RX

Distance: 0.3 mls

Glass

Part of an enterprise that includes a restaurant and a swanky club, Glass appears to lead something of a double life. When it's busy, this shiny, happy room is popular...

Piccadilly: 9 Glasshouse Street, W1B 5EL

Distance: 0.3 mls

5th View

There are few more indulgent pleasures than whiling away a couple of hours in a pub with a good book. But what about drinking in a bookshop? Set on the fifth floor of...

St James's: 5th floor, Waterstone's, 203-206 Piccadilly, W1J 9HA

Distance: 0.3 mls

Sun & Thirteen Cantons

Built way back in 1882, with links to Soho's Swiss heritage (hence the name - there's still a Helvetic map on the wall), this Soho boozer has opted to attract a...

Soho: 21 Great Pulteney Street, W1F 9NG

Distance: 0.3 mls

Alphabet

At the forefront of London's bar revolution in the late 1990s, Alphabet still does little wrong; but it could, perhaps, do with a little contemporary competition....

Soho: 61-63 Beak Street, W1F 9SS

Distance: 0.4 mls

Balls Brothers

St James's: 20 St James's Street, SW1A 1ES

Distance: 0.4 mls

Mark's Bar

Downstairs bar in Mark Hix's Soho restaurant

Soho: 66-70 Brewer Street, W1F 9UP

Distance: 3563 mls