The Casino at the Empire’s VIP bar The Icon Room is big on glamour but hard on who they let through the door.

The Venue
Located on the first floor of the uber-glam Casino at the Empire, everything in The Icon Room is plush, plush, plush. From the red velvet sofas and gilded mirrors to the antique patterned wallpaper and glittery chandeliers, each and every inch of bar is supremely glitzy. The room is small, with only a few seats, and there’s an outdoor balcony complete with Greek-style frescoes and colour-changing lighting where you can sip your cocktails and admire (or wrinkle your nose at) the view of Leicester Square.

The Atmosphere
Whilst all this glitz might be a bit much for the average London bar-goer, membership at The Icon Room is restricted to the creme de la creme – think supreme high-rollers and celebs that pop in for a drink before a big premiere. In fact, there’s even a passageway from the bar to the cinema next door, so famous faces can sneak in and out or wave to their adoring public from the balcony.

The Drink
Champagne cocktails are the order of the day here, with several drinks perfect for celebrating. Try the aptly named Royal Flush, which combines gin, cherry liqueur and champange with muddled maraschino cherries. But if that's not to your fancy, there are loads of other cocktails to try, with cool vintage celebrity names like the Dean Martini (made with vodka, apple juice and champagne) and the Betty Page (Patron Anejo, Cointreau, mandarin and ginger). The bar staff are some of the best in the capital, but would you expect any less from a place that imports their showgirls from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas?

The Last Word
Expect to see mentions of The Icon Room splashed across celebrity gossip pages in all the tabloids. But unfortunately, unless you can afford to spend half your salary at the Casino at the Empire or you’ve had your name in lights, your chances of getting in are as small as winning a multi-million pound jackpot off a 20p slot machine.

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