After a reported £220 million refurbishment, The Savoy Hotel is back and open for business. As one of the world’s most famous hotels, it has always attracted a glittering array of stars and with Robert Downey Jnr, Jude Law and Guy Ritchie already in the house at the Beaufort Bar, its power of attraction shows no sign of abating.

The Venue
One of two bars in the newly reopened Savoy Hotel - the other being the American - Beaufort Bar is located to the rear of the ground floor. Once you pass through the grandiose foyer, you’ll pass a Boodles shop, no doubt in residence for those impulsive wallets, big proposals or guilty consciences, and a chocolatiers, where you can observe staff crafting tiny little gourmet delights. The bar itself is accessible to the left of the afternoon tea area (the Thames Foyer), which has a remarkable gun metal grey gazebo as a centerpiece. Sliding doors provide discretion, and a temporary wall between the bar and the foyer, but these are opened up once Sherlock Holmes has made his escape out the back.

Open from 5.30pm, daily, you’ll have to rock up early to get access to the bar. With a perplexing no reservations policy, you may well have to wait a while (unless you’re Hollywood royalty, of course). Once inside, the bar is vampishly-lit, luxuriously furnished and most notable for its black and gold design (mostly black though) that sees chic touches of gold leaf layered onto hollow alcoves.

The Atmosphere
Take one look around and you will see that everyone looks immensely pleased to have made it into the room. And don’t worry if you end up perched on a stool at the bar with your back to the action as you’ll get running commentary from a middle-aged Nosy Parker nibbling on nuts: "There’s Jude Law and Guy Ritchie, oh and there’s Downey Jnr sat with a table of American guys. They’ve all got hats on. You can tell they’re all Americans, an Englishman would take their hat off when they’re inside.”

Jazz and Frank Sinatra are on the playlist, again reinforcing this is a hotel that aims to evoke the Art Deco golden age of the 1930s, rather than say The Sanderson, which goes for a livelier, contemporary feel. A pianist even takes over later on and the sound of the theme tune from Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory emanating around the room is a lovely touch. Staff are, as you’d expect from one of the world’s best hotels, international (with a solid American backbone), acquiescent and very smiley.

The Drink
Champagne takes top billing on the menu and a Louis Roederer hook-up is given its own section. Bottles start at £65 but Cristal in the fridge wrapped in what looks like old school Lucozade plastic wrapping sends prices rocketing into another stratosphere. Cocktails cost £14-£16 mark, with only a handful on the menu, although they will mix you a Perfect Manhattan to your exact personal taste and make you feel a bit like you’re in the cast of Mad Men to boot. Other more than satisfactory concoctions include the gin and berry-based Black Pearl, the wintery Real McCoy (bourbon and sherry) and a Poser, a rose-infused champagne cocktail which has a pretty purple blossom petal floating on the surface.

The Last Word
Definitely worth experiencing at least once in your lifetime, the Beaufort Bar is too pricey for mere mortals to enjoy on a regular basis, but for impressing a hot date, celebrating a special occasion and spotting bona fide A-listers, it’s undoubtedly one of the capital’s finest luxury hotel bars.

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