Which London Club Can I Join?

[Alickadoo]

If I wanted to join a London club, which ones would accept me?

Somewhere I could go for a coffee, read the paper, have lunch, stay over night, possibly. I don't know many members of clubs, possibly I could get in the RAC.

Any ideas? I have no professional qualifications.

Why? It's just a whim that I have.

[BananaFama]

I Googled RAC club , you need to apply and be proposed and seconded by existing members ,so that seems unlikely .

[Alickadoo]

BananaFama said:

I Googled RAC club , you need to apply and be proposed and seconded by existing members ,so that seems unlikely .

This is simply an idle fantasy of mine - no more.

I do know 1 or 2 members of the RAC, so that's why I mentioned that one, just wondered which clubs would have me.

I suspect the clubs that would have me, I wouldn't want to join.

What about the Athenaeum, or the Garrick? The Reform? Would I get in there?

[Boom78]

Looking at the RAC facilities, services, purpose and love of cars being a binding theme for members I get it. As for the other clubs mentioned they just look like stuffy places for boring elitist old people harking back to Victorian times. Not for me (not that I would be welcome though).

[ShredderXLE]

Alickadoo said:

If I wanted to join a London club, which ones would accept me?

Somewhere I could go for a coffee, read the paper, have lunch, stay over night, possibly. I don't know many members of clubs, possibly I could get in the RAC.

Any ideas? I have no professional qualifications.

Why? It's just a whim that I have.

You could do all of those things in the Premier Inn i stayed in last week. Have you tried them?

[Alickadoo]

ShredderXLE said:

Alickadoo said:

If I wanted to join a London club, which ones would accept me?

Somewhere I could go for a coffee, read the paper, have lunch, stay over night, possibly. I don't know many members of clubs, possibly I could get in the RAC.

Any ideas? I have no professional qualifications.

Why? It's just a whim that I have.

You could do all of those things in the Premier Inn i stayed in last week. Have you tried them?

That's not such a daft idea!

https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/search.html?searc...

Several in the West End. I will give that some thought. OK no real comparison, perhaps, but an absolute fraction of the cost of the other places.

[ChevronB19]

I know this doesn’t help, but it’s always worth a Groucho Marx quote…

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

[rallye101]

Been to the Winchester house club in Putney with a mate of mine who is a member for cheap beers. Lovely place right on the River.
Seemed a very friendly membership...

[mattnovak]

The Hurlingham is nice.

[anonymous-user]

Soho House is probably a better bet for a whim-type thing.

[Alickadoo]

Of course, without all the joining fees and annual subscriptions, most decent London hotels would offer similar - to some degree - facilities of a London club. It would have to be in the West End, though. Mayfair, St James's, Soho, Covent Garden, one of those would do.

The Goring at Victoria is ok, but a bit too far out. The Stafford in St James' is quite nice.

[LimaDelta]

Where are you based? I'm assuming not London if you might use it to stay over? In that case, many provincial clubs have reciprocal arrangements with London clubs, and you may find it cheaper and or easier to join one more local to you. Mine for example has reciprocals with The Army & Navy, The Carlton Club, The Farmers Club, The Sloane Club, The Saville Club, plus many others around the UK and overseas.

[Doofus]

I was proposed and seconded for Mark's by a business partner and his brother 25 years ago.

I had a meeting with the Membership Committee and decided that, despite the initial appeal of having a club, I'm not that kind of person, and nobody I met there was my kind of people.

[anonymous-user]

BananaFama said:

I Googled RAC club , you need to apply and be proposed and seconded by existing members ,so that seems unlikely .

My first boss was a member of the RAC club so he would occasionally arrange lunches there for clients and I had to go along.

I absolutely hated it, this was back in the 90s and it felt like the average member felt they were better than everyone else, loved to lord it over people and were sad about the demise of the British empire.

I couldn't wait to get out of there.

[Mr Pointy]

Doofus said:

I was proposed and seconded for Mark's by a business partner and his brother 25 years ago.

I had a meeting with the Membership Committee and decided that, despite the initial appeal of having a club, I'm not that kind of person, and nobody I met there was my kind of people.

Was there any comeback for your proposer & seconder?

[Doofus]

Mr Pointy said:

Doofus said:

I was proposed and seconded for Mark's by a business partner and his brother 25 years ago.

I had a meeting with the Membership Committee and decided that, despite the initial appeal of having a club, I'm not that kind of person, and nobody I met there was my kind of people.

Was there any comeback for your proposer & seconder?

Not as far as I know. Although one of them died and I've never even met the other.

So is that a 'yes', or a 'no'?

[ClaphamGT3]

I'm a member of the Hurlingham for the family https://hurlinghamclub.org.uk/hurlingham-home

And of the House of St Barnabus for business
https://hosb.org.uk/

I used to be a member of the Carlton Club but resigned when they admitted Jim Davidson as a member.

Most St James's Clubs are quite stuffy and dying of old age but, if I had to join one, I'd probably look at the Athenaeum, which is quite progressive, or the Travellers. In my experience the RAC, although the facilities are excellent, is a bit Rotary Club in terms of the demographic of the other members.

[ClaphamGT3]

ClaphamGT3 said:

I'm a member of the Hurlingham for the family https://hurlinghamclub.org.uk/hurlingham-home

And of the House of St Barnabus for business
https://hosb.org.uk/

I used to be a member of the Carlton Club but resigned when they admitted Jim Davidson as a member.

Most St James's Clubs are quite stuffy and dying of old age but, if I had to join one, I'd probably look at the Athenaeum, which is quite progressive, or the Travellers. In my experience the RAC, although the facilities are excellent, is a bit Rotary Club in terms of the demographic of the other members.

The Hurlingham is a long way out of town (and has closed its waiting list I think as it had reached over 20 years) so may not be suitable but House of St Barnabus is really good because its in the heart of the west end and, unlike the St James's clubs, doesn't have a dress code. It was a pain never being able to drop into the Carlton for a coffee and a read of the paper at the weekend because I was wearing jeans

Another option might be to join the RSA. With fellowship comes use of the RSA's HQ building just off the Strand

[eharding]

Alickadoo said:

If I wanted to join a London club, which ones would accept me?

Somewhere I could go for a coffee, read the paper, have lunch, stay over night, possibly. I don't know many members of clubs, possibly I could get in the RAC.

Any ideas? I have no professional qualifications.

Why? It's just a whim that I have.

Do you have any involvement in agriculture? If so, you might consider The Farmers Club - they offer "several classes of membership based on your location and individual circumstances and needs; Country, Town, Under 35, Family, Group Enterprise, Overseas and Life memberships.". There are however drawbacks to stating that you're a Country Member in polite company.

[rallye101]

Remember a night at the groucho....no papers read or coffee drunk!
Misheard " fancy a bump" for "fancy a bum" which confused the heck out of me....
A friend who started up a brief relationship with a girl that night was given a room by the bar manager to finish the deed...