The Royal Automobile Club

An oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the west end, the Royal Automobile Club is not to be missed.

American culture, at least the modern variant of it, has often been referred to as a “car culture,” and few would contest the label. English culture, being a couple of millennia older, hasn’t grown up with cars in quite the same way.

Interesting, then, that there’s no real American equivalent of the Royal Automobile Club.

Christened and sponsored by none other than King Edward VII himself, the club has been an institution on Pall Mall, London’s famed row of posh private clubs, since 1911, when the architectural team of Mewès Davis—best known as the gentlemen who brought us the Ritz—completed work on the building, intended as a gathering place for motoring mavens.

For nearly a century the club has served as a library of automotive history (its sizable archives feature materials going back to 1897), a treasury of car-related memorabilia and a repository of British racing trophies. But it’s even more beloved as a genteel club where members can meet to share an elegant dinner, sip a cocktail, play a round of backgammon or even take a midmorning swim in a comfortable environment born of shared enthusiasms.

The 108-bedroom clubhouse, which opened its doors in 1911, is the luxury playground for all motor enthusiasts – and more.

Expect all the decadent opulence that the club is known for, but with a lower London accent—in other words, it’s much more exclusive, a.k.a. “desirable”.

The club is London’s grande dame with a central West side address and a glamorous roll call of guests.

And it’s in a prime location overlooking St James Park and within easy reach of the capital’s glitziest stores on Regents Street.

The Royal Automobile Club enjoys a rich history dating back to 1897, when it was founded as the Automobile Club of Great Britain at a time when ‘horseless carriages’ were regarded with scepticism.

In 1911 the grand, state-of-the-art Royal Automobile Club was opened in Pall Mall.

The very grandeur house was considered desirable to reflect the Club’s burgeoning reputation as the ‘Parliament House of Motordom’ and the most distinguished architects of their time Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis were commissioned to carry out the project.

They had already been lauded for the recently constructed Ritz hotels in Paris and London, and the interiors of some of the great ocean-going liners of the day.

A terribly good mix of Classical, English and French architectural styles characterises the property.

One exuberant description summarises the RAC as a ‘mini-palace of opulence and Edwardian hedonism’.

The Facilities

The amenities are top notch, with a 2000 square foot fitness center, a peaceful spa, and their famous indoor lap pool – featuring in the 2006 film Scoop, where Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman frolicked in its Grecian-style marble swimming pool.

For the central Pall Mall location, the property is surprisingly quiet and keeps the city noise at bay.

The RAC is the only club in London with a Turkish bath, members-only post office, Billiards room, Squash courts and a florist.

Enjoy massages, manicures and signature facials at the serene Club Spa,where regulars swear by the services here.

The service is faultless.

It all flows from the management which is British warmth personified.

And beyond that, from the ground staff themselves, whose love for cars as well as the place itself is everywhere apparent.

Dining

 It’s dusty trail mix and screw-top wine then run for the hills.

The minibar is smartly designed and features bespoke cocktails and artisanal snacks, you know you’re in good hands. From the get go, the gorgeous (cocktail)bar is set high.

Elsewhere, there is a quintessentially British tea lounge (a nod to the impressive heritage of the building), a buzzy bar and classic British brasserie.

Not to mention, London’s most impressive destination Great Gallery Restaurant (pictured above), helmed by chef du jour Matthew Marshall.

Touted as one of the finest dining spaces in London.

Breakfast is a classic spread of continental and British favourites, served in the Brooklands Room.

They also have A la Carte options, including pancakes, the full monty, and eggs royale.

The Room

A home away from home—if your home happens to come straight out of the pages of Harper’s Bizarre circa 1896 —the club’s 108 rooms are styled with vintage furnishings, lightly patterned fabrics and stunning details.

If you go for the King Suite, a great corner room overlooking the Pall Mall gardens, then expect full-on, swagtastic, no-tassels-barred Victoriana enlivened with some faintly surreal touches, such as a taxonomic display of 150-year-old baby shoes.

But there is not a bad room in the joint.

Its membership privileges thus restored, the Great Gallery restaurant has rejoined its old Royal Automobile Club friends: the English Palladian smoking room, where club regulars gather to sip tea and play bridge; the Art Déco-inspired Brooklands Room, a smaller and more informal brasserie-style dining area; the columned indoor pool, still very much in use; the wood-paneled cocktail bar; and, of course, the library, where the documentary record of Britain’s car culture is lovingly maintained.

Robert Carter, in the driver’s seat, has crossed the finish line to the sight of Union Jacks waving and the sound of champagne corks popping.

As they’re fond of saying over there: Good show.

The whole RAC experience is a real treat and should be on everyone’s bucket list.