London
A large city of separate villages, where Mayfair, St James's, Knightsbridge and Chelsea hold most of what matters within a short drive. The rooms and tables worth having are known by name to the people who book them, and many houses and collections open privately to anyone who writes ahead.
30 recommendations in six sections.
Stay
The best hotel suites in London
The room, not the hotel: in each hotel that matters, the suite to ask for.
The Apartment at The Connaught
The Connaught's two-bedroom penthouse of 285 sq m on the sixth floor, with two balconies over Carlos Place.
The Manor House Wing at Rosewood London
The 208 m² Manor House suite joined to six connecting rooms, with its own entrance, its own lift and its own postcode, inside the former Pearl Assurance headquarters on High Holborn.
The Royal Suite at Claridge's
A two-bedroom suite of 225 sq m looking onto Brook Street and Davies Street, designed by Michelle Wu around the 1953 Coronation, with its own dining room for eight.
The Royal Suite at The Goring
A two-bedroom suite of 151 m² with a balcony over the garden, on the fifth floor of the family-owned hotel ten minutes' walk from Buckingham Palace, with a footman of its own.
The Royal Suite at The Savoy
The largest suite at The Savoy, 264 m² of rooms in a row facing the Thames, with its own bar, a service kitchen, a morning room for private dining and a butler.
Dine
Private dining rooms in London
The table and the room: private rooms, chef's counters, and whom to ask.
Table Lumière at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
A single table for two to seven inside an oval curtain of 4,500 optical fibres in the middle of Alain Ducasse's three-star dining room at The Dorchester.
The Chef's Table at Core
A table for up to ten beside the kitchen at CORE by Clare Smyth, three Michelin stars, with the brigade behind a sheet of glass.
The Chef's Table at Hélène Darroze
A pink marble table for up to ten on a terrazzo dais above the pass at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, three Michelin stars.
The Lecture Room & Library at sketch
The three-Michelin-star dining room of sketch, in a 1779 Mayfair townhouse, cooking to Pierre Gagnaire's menus.
The Ledbury
A restaurant of 45 seats in Notting Hill with three Michelin stars, serving tasting menus under chef-patron Brett Graham.
Arrive
Arriving in London by private jet or commercial flight
Getting in and out without a queue: by private jet, on a commercial flight, by car or by train.
Eurostar Premier from St Pancras
The top class on the train to Paris and Brussels, with its own lanes through security and passport control, a lounge at St Pancras and a station escort who can be booked for either end.
The Heli Shuttle from London Biggin Hill
A six-minute helicopter transfer by AW109 or AW139 from London's business aviation airport at Biggin Hill to The London Heliport at Battersea, with a chauffeured car to the door.
The London Heliport at Battersea
London's only licensed heliport, on the south bank of the Thames at Battersea, ten minutes by helicopter from Heathrow or Biggin Hill and twenty from Farnborough, Luton or Gatwick, with customs clearance for flights from the EU.
The marina at St Katharine Docks
Central London's only marina, on the east side of Tower Bridge beside the Tower of London, with 185 berths in three basins behind a lock for yachts up to 40 metres.
The private terminal at Farnborough Airport
The terminal of the UK's largest business aviation airport, with customs, immigration and screening inside and cars driven to the aircraft steps.
Access
What is not on the public calendar: before opening, after closing, by appointment.
The Brothers' tour of the Charterhouse
A tour of up to 90 minutes through the Charterhouse, a 14th-century monastery, Tudor mansion and working almshouse, given by one of the Brothers who live there.
The candlelit tour at Sir John Soane's Museum
A private 90-minute evening in Sir John Soane's house museum after it has closed, for up to 15 guests: a half-hour reception in the Library-Dining Room, then an hour through the rooms by candlelight with one of the museum's guides.
The out-of-hours tour at the Wallace Collection
A private hour in Hertford House from 9 to 10 on a weekday, before the museum opens, led by one of the Wallace Collection's guide lecturers for up to 25 guests.
The special access tour of Spencer House
An hour through the eight State Rooms of Spencer House, the Spencers' 1750s palace on Green Park, with one of its Blue Badge guides, arranged for your party on a weekday outside the Sunday public opening.
The verger tour of Westminster Abbey
A 90-minute tour of Westminster Abbey with one of its vergers, for up to 20 people, that goes into the Shrine of St Edward the Confessor, which general visitors cannot enter.
Care
Private doctors and discreet services in London
Discreet services on short notice.
A bespoke suit at Henry Poole
A suit cut from the client's own paper pattern and sewn by hand at 15 Savile Row, by the house whose showroom first opened onto the street.
A hot towel shave at Truefitt & Hill
A 30-minute wet shave by a Master Barber, prepared with pre-shave oil and a hot towel, at 71 St James's Street, in the barbershop Guinness World Records named the oldest in the world.
A Norland Nanny through the Norland Agency
A nanny or maternity practitioner trained at Norland, placed by the college's own agency for a permanent, temporary, rota or event post in London.
Dry cleaning from Jeeves of Belgravia
Dry cleaning, repairs and care for couture, leather, fur and handbags from the Belgravia cleaner that has held the Royal Warrant since 1980, collected from the hotel desk and returned without charge within London.
The hotel doctor from Doctorcall
A private GP who comes to the hotel room at any hour, usually within about 90 minutes, with a live arrival time and the fee added to the hotel bill.
Around
A day outside the city: country houses, the Cotswolds, the racecourses.
The Festival at Glyndebourne
A summer evening of opera in a 1,200-seat theatre beside a country house in the Sussex Downs, with a 90-minute interval for a picnic in the gardens or dinner in the house restaurants.
The Old Course at Sunningdale
A round on Willie Park Junior's 1901 heathland course at Sunningdale, about 30 miles west of central London.
The private tour of Blenheim Palace
A guided visit to Blenheim Palace, seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, arranged privately by its special tours team, into rooms not always on view and after the gates close.
The Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot
The members' enclosure at the five-day Royal Meeting at Ascot, 25 miles west of London, entered on a hand-written badge worn only by the member named on it.
The Stone Circle Experience at Stonehenge
An hour inside the stone circle at Stonehenge with an English Heritage guide, at dawn or in the evening outside public hours, for 52 people at most or one party alone.
