Connaught Bar takes no reservations. The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz asks for a minimum spend of £30 per person. Rules differ from room to room, and the venues’ own pages are the place to check.
This guide sticks to what the venues publish, plus recent figures from the trade bodies and the press. The venue details below date from early October 2026, and hours and rules change.
Two kinds of room
A high-end evening in London happens in two kinds of room. The first is the hotel bar, and most of the bars below stay open into the late evening. The second is the members’ club.
The hotel bars to know
Start with Connaught Bar in Mayfair. It opens from 4pm to 1am, Monday to Saturday. Its martini trolley lets you choose the aromatic bitters that go into your drink. It ranked No. 6 on the 2025 World’s 50 Best Bars list, Time Out reported.
The American Bar at The Savoy opened in 1893, according to the hotel. Its drinks commemorate guests and moments from the hotel’s history. The bar opens at midday every day.
Claridge’s Bar opens at noon and closes at 1am from Monday to Saturday. On Sundays it closes at midnight.
The Rivoli Bar at The Ritz opens from 11am to midnight every day. Last orders are at 11.30pm.
Dukes Bar keeps earlier hours, from 3pm to 10pm, Monday to Saturday. The hotel says its martinis come in frozen glasses, with the spirits chilled and served without ice. Time Out’s August 2026 guide to hotel bars adds that you can order a maximum of two at Dukes.
At Artesian, in The Langham, the bar’s own website calls it a four-time winner of World’s Best Bar. It opens at 4pm and closes at midnight from Sunday to Wednesday. From Thursday to Saturday it stays open until 1am.
Scarfes Bar at Rosewood London, on High Holborn, opens at 4pm and runs until late, with live jazz. The hotel describes the room as reminiscent of classic clubs, with velvet armchairs, antique books and artwork. It ranked No. 31 on the 2025 World’s 50 Best Bars list.
How the evening works
Booking and walk-ins
There is no single rule. Connaught Bar takes no reservations at all. At Claridge’s, the Terrace takes walk-ins and you can reserve the main bar online. The American Bar at The Savoy and the Rivoli Bar at The Ritz both take bookings.
Dukes Bar and Scarfes Bar both work on a walk-in basis. Scarfes allots each table 1.5 hours and takes reservations only for in-house guests and parties of six or more. Artesian takes reservations through its website.
What to wear
The American Bar asks for elegant attire and bans sports jerseys and offensive clothing. Dukes Bar asks for smart casual. It bans sportswear, shorts and T-shirts, but polo shirts are fine. The Rivoli Bar accepts smart casual, and The Ritz bans sportswear in all its restaurants and bars.
Claridge’s lists no dress code for its bar. Its terms for the Foyer and Reading Room say it operates none and that most guests choose smart casual. The Connaught’s page says nothing, so dress smartly.
What it costs
The Rivoli Bar sets a minimum spend of £30 per person. Time Out’s hotel bar guide of August 2026 gives typical prices. Cocktails start at £25 at Connaught Bar and £23 at the American Bar. Most at the Rivoli cost around £25.
The top of the menu costs more. The Infatuation’s hotel bar guide is dated 18 September 2026. It lists the most expensive cocktail at Dukes at £27.50 and at Claridge’s at £30. Some drinks cost far more: the same guide lists £450 at Velvet and £7,500 at Donovan Bar.
Building the evening
London’s high-end bars keep very different hours, as the examples above show, so the order of the night matters. Dukes takes last orders at 10pm, while Connaught Bar stays open until 1am from Monday to Saturday. An early drink at Dukes and a late one at Connaught Bar covers both.
Nights out are starting earlier, and there are fewer venues to serve them. NTIA said in September 2026 that Greater London has lost 15.5% of its night-time economy venues since before Covid. Its release says NIQ sales data show 25.1% of on-premise sales across Britain now fall between 5pm and 7pm. That is slightly ahead of the 7pm to 10pm slot.
Westminster’s revised licensing policy was due to come into force on 1 October 2026. The Morning Advertiser reported this on 17 September. It treats core hours as reference points rather than fixed limits. The council can still approve later hours where it believes they promote the licensing objectives.
On Friday and Saturday nights, TfL’s Night Tube runs on lines including the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria. Check whether a line serves your station before you rely on it.
When the room is a club
The Arts Club in Mayfair describes its dress code as elegant. It encourages men to wear a blazer after 6pm.
It bans T-shirts with large logos, prints or slogans, ripped jeans or gym shoes. Shorts for men, sportswear, baseball caps and backpacks are also out. The club may refuse entry to anyone it judges not sufficiently well presented.
Home House, on Portman Square, offers a way in for non-members. According to the club, non-members can book to stay there.
