Anaya London Review

Best for: beautiful people, beautiful waitresses, beautiful club; can you sense a theme, here?

Great: music, crowd, entertainment.

My email invite to Anaya on Thursday night requested that I “dress glamorous”. One look down at my chipped toe polish, scuffed sandals and ripped jeans suggested that I needed to go shopping.

My previous forays into exclusive nightclubs have been few and far between; a birthday party here, a hen party there. I’m really at home in north or east London, preferring to spend my social time in spit-and-sawdust pubs, drinking warm frothy lager from plastic glasses. I rarely venture west, and when I do, it’s to the markets of Notting Hill.

I’m a true clubber; the kind that leaves bleary-eyed and not-so bushy tailed when normal people are getting up in the morning; who regards a mascara-stained face as well-earned war paint, and whose stilettos are actually chunky, studded biker boots. So it was with some trepidation that I donned newly bought spiked heels and glued on extra-long, super-thick eyelashes ahead of the iCandy Bikini Babe Showdown event at Anaya London.

Located just off Regent Street, the nightclub is modest from the outside. Only the sectioned-off pavement and smart bouncer at the door alludes to its existence from the street. Once down the stairs into the basement, however, the club opens up like a glitzy, South Beach-inspired, vajazzle-encrusted flower.

As we arrived the club was lit with an unearthly, inhuman purple hue. Within ten minutes the lights had dimmed to a more feature-flattering level, and the nightclub went from partially packed to a comfortable squeeze.

The club isn’t big, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in style: mirrored panels stretch the length of the club, spotlights align the back walls, and black leather couches flank the dance floor. The overall effect is of a Miami-fashioned playground for the truly rich and elite. It’s an intimate space, which is no bad thing when you’re sandwiched in between London’s most beautiful socialites.

Seated in the corner of the club we had the perfect viewing point: to our left sat a group of lively, rambunctious lads in their twenties, positioned sensibly around a magnum of Grey Goose vodka and entertaining the many women that hovered on the periphery. In front of us girls milled around in breathtakingly tight dresses and skyscraper heels. Waitresses – of the beautiful, leggy kind – sauntered from table to table holding bottles of vodka avec sparklers and capturing the heart of one of my friends.

“I think I’m in love,” he whispered, nudging me in the ribs every time one of the waitresses shimmied past.

“With which one?” I asked.

“With all of them!”

The music was loud, hard and fast; the kind of music beautiful people throw shapes to. And throw shapes they – and we – did, packed tight on the small dance floor, faces and bodies pressed against the most fantastic figures this side of the Atlantic. Funky house tunes followed an earlier commercial dance set, and that’s when things got really sexy.

We were promised an iCandy Bikini Babe Showdown, and a showdown is what we got. Twelve of the most toned, tanned, bronzed and buff babes paraded around in the teeniest of itsy bitsy bikinis, shaking what their mothers gave them like their lives depended on it. But it wasn’t their lives they were worried about. What they were after was the coveted Bikini Babe award. Two bottles of Grey Goose vodka drunk, and I was in danger of going up and competing myself.

Thankfully, I saved my dignity (what is left of it). At a quarter-past two we stumbled out of the club, all hideously drunk and stranded after the last train. But did we worry? Did we heck! First port of call: McDonalds. Clad in nothing more than a mini-dress and clutching my heels in my hand, I slurred my order and scurried away with a double bacon-cheeseburger. Well, you can take the girl out of north London, but you can’t take north London out of the girl. ...read more

Claire Williams 10 Aug 2012

Anaya London Description

Anaya is a "Stylish Secret Hideaway" located between Mayfair and Piccadilly and with Gaucho & Bently's next door we have established a heavy celeb list as well as being accessible to those looking for that special place to enjoy their night.

With only 14 tables, VIP section and ability to section off other areas and a capacity of approx 200 people you cant help but feel exclusive and stylish in here.

We are available for any type of event whether it be a corporate summer party, a press day or a Christmas party.

We offer a great variety of canape and bowl food menus as well as themed menus.

Anaya has been host to some of the worlds best Djs and a venue that has many high end corporate events as well as music and fashion events! We are a venue that can act as an excellent blank canvas and can be transformed into whatever you desire... The skies the limit. ...read more

Customer Reviews for Anaya London

Average (based on 2 votes): 2 Atmosphere: Value: Quality:

The following customer reviews are not endorsed by Fluid London and are simply those of users who wish to publish their independent experiences of Anaya London.

“Great girls!”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Todd, Chelsea (5 months 20 days ago)

“Been to Anaya a few times. It is in the basement but it has a nice classy feel to it. The drink prices are what you'd expect in a Mayfair club and I've found that the people in it are really good looking. They hold some good events in it too.”
Atmosphere: Value: Quality:
Sam, London (7 months 26 days ago)

Additional Information

• Website: Visit the Anaya London website
• Group: (Independent/Freehouse)