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The Sloane Club: The Sloane Ranger Gets a Modern Makeover
After a £20 million transformation, one of Chelsea's best-known private members' clubs has a spectacular new look, a renewed appetite for dining and wellness, and ambitions to attract a new generation of London members.
“Sloane Squarrr, darling.” For decades, The Sloane Club belonged to a Chelsea world where vowels stretched as long as family pedigrees. Think Country Life meets The Crown. The well-heeled arrived from the shires, using the Club as their London address for business, pleasure and a civilised place to lay their heads. Their offspring might have been raising hell around SW3, but this was where Mummy and Daddy checked in.
The Sloane Ranger became one of the great social caricatures of the 1980s, immortalised as much for the accent as the wardrobe. But Chelsea has moved on from the days when a postcode, pedigree and pair of corduroys could define an entire social set. Old money now rubs shoulders with international wealth, younger professionals and a generation for whom quiet luxury speaks louder than social credentials. The Sloanes haven’t vanished. They’ve been mingling, merging and metamorphosing along with the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, London’s private clubland has been undergoing a transformation of its own. Membership now means considerably more than somewhere to stay or take lunch. Restaurants, wellness, workspaces and a lively social calendar are increasingly part of the attraction, particularly for those who live locally and see their club as an extension of home.
A new generation of club life at The Sloane Club, where Chelsea tradition meets contemporary urbanity.
For The Sloane Club, founded in 1922, the challenge was how to welcome this new generation while keeping faith with the members who have loved it for decades.
Its owners, Queensway, who took over in 2017, approached the project as custodians of a special legacy. The Club has occupied its Lower Sloane Street home since 1948, and its history is woven into the lives of generations of members. This was to be a continuation of a long and colourful story, with a new cast of characters contributing to the next instalment.
They entrusted the transformation to Russell Sage Studio, whose previous work includes The Groucho, Home House and the Lansdowne Club. Over two years, the designers have worked through seven floors of the building, preserving its familiar exterior while giving the interiors a more fanciful personality.
The Demob cocktail bar, with its billowing parachute-silk ceiling and suitably moody atmosphere.
And they’ve clearly enjoyed themselves. In the Demob cocktail bar, parachute silk billows across the ceiling, a nod to the Club’s military connections, with a camouflage-patterned carpet continuing the theme. In the library, shilling coins recall the original six-shilling membership fee, while a portrait of an unidentified woman discovered during the renovations has inspired The Lady in Black private dining room. Nobody appears to know who she was, but she’s now firmly part of the Club’s story.
The Lady in Black private dining room, named after a mysterious portrait discovered during the Club’s refurbishment.
From Lower Sloane Street, the building is recognisably the same Chelsea institution. Inside, it’s an altogether hipper, sharper proposition.
A New Appetite for Dining
Dining has become one of the great attractions of modern club membership, and The Sloane Club has three restaurants, each with its own character.
On the first floor, Lila is perhaps the most theatrical sits beneath a retractable glass roof, serving small plates and cocktails. On a fine day, the roof opens to the Chelsea sky. Or Venus, a beautiful fine-dining room with an orange glow from the ornate chandelier and candle-light.
Lila at The Sloane Club, where a retractable glass roof opens to the Chelsea sky.
Downstairs, Helena’s, the all-day restaurant, features exquisite embroidery by the Royal School of Needlework, while Venus, also on the ground floor, has a striking mural by artist Rosie McGuinness. Three private dining rooms cater for celebrations, entertaining and long lunches behind closed doors.
Helena’s, The Sloane Club’s elegant all-day restaurant, featuring exquisite embroidery by the Royal School of Needlework.
For members living locally, there’s plenty of reason to return throughout the week, from breakfast and working lunches to dinner with friends or an evening that starts with a cocktail or two.
The Club’s ambitions extend beyond its membership, too. Following Café 1922, the arrival of Bistro 1922 on Lower Sloane Street has brought another public-facing dining address to Chelsea.
Here, the cooking is British, seasonal and reassuringly familiar: Cornish sardines with preserved lemon, Suffolk chicken with leeks and prunes, Aberdeen Angus skirt steak and fries, a changing Dish of the Day and a proper Sunday roast. There’s also a Host’s Table Menu, giving the neighbourhood another reason to make itself at home.
Bistro 1922 has also joined Luxury Restaurant Guide, with a dedicated dining privilege for members. See details. Not a member? Enjoy a 14-day free trial here.
Modern Club Life
And if lunch has been a little too good, there’s now somewhere to work it off. Downstairs, a brand-new gym and Bamford wellness suite bring a distinctly 21st-century addition to The Sloane Club.
Technogym equipment, personal training, yoga and fitness classes, an infrared sauna and treatment rooms offering Bamford massages, facials and beauty therapies are all part of the new offering. For Chelsea residents, it’s forcing a reappraisal of where to drop in for a morning workout and stay for coffee, lunch or an afternoon’s work.
The Sloane Club’s new gym, featuring Technogym equipment as part of its expanded fitness and wellness offering.
The Club has also made room for members who prefer a desk to a dumbbell, with dedicated workspaces and a library developed in partnership with Thames & Hudson. Talks, tastings, exhibitions and cultural events keep the social calendar busy, while the 66 newly refurbished bedrooms and suites continue to serve those who travel into London or simply fancy a night in Chelsea.
The Sloane Club's library, beautifully redesigned in partnership with Thames & Hudson.
When Managing Director Neena Jivraj-Stevenson arrived in 2017, the average member was 75. Today, it’s 48, with Londoners accounting for a growing share of the membership.
It’s been a subtle evolution, embracing the urbanity of modern Chelsea life while preserving the character and traditions that have defined The Sloane Club for more than a century.
An Invitation to The Sloane Club
As part of our exclusive series of Private Club Introductions, Luxury Restaurant Guide members are invited to experience The Sloane Club as diners. Eligible members can enjoy a complimentary one-day introduction for themselves and a guest, including £20 credit towards dining and drinks, with the opportunity to explore the newly refurbished Club. A personal tour and introduction to the Membership team can also be arranged.
The invitation is available until 31 March 2027, subject to an active full Luxury Restaurant Guide membership, with advance booking required. Full details are available in the Experience Wallet within the LRG app.
The Sloane Club
52 Lower Sloane Street, Chelsea, London SW1W 8BP
thesloaneclub.com
luxuryrestaurantguide.com
