New west London nightclub Albert’s aimed at maturing Made in Chelsea set

The £500-a-year private members' club hopes to attract a crowd of well-connected west Londoners who want a civilised evening out but who do not want to travel to Mayfair
Big names: Albert's owners, from left: Fraser Carruthers, Carlo Carello, Piers Adam, and Jake Parkinson-Smith want their club to seem “more relaxed than Annabel’s”
Paul Hampartsoumian

A “post-Boujis” dinner and dancing venue for the maturing Made in Chelsea set is being launched by four stars of London’s nightclub scene.

The £500-a-year private members’ club in the basement of a former NatWest bank on the Old Brompton Road is aimed at well-connected west Londoners who want a civilised evening out but who do not want to travel to Mayfair.

Founding partner Carlo Carello, former manager at South Kensington’s Boujis, said the new venture, called Albert’s, would appeal to all age groups, not just the twentysomethings “who want to get drunk”.

He promised the new club would be “more party than Soho House and more relaxed than Annabel’s”. There will even be a Rolls-Royce that can be booked by members for their journey home.

Recovered former alcoholic Mr Carello said he hoped to create a relaxed “club as home” atmosphere where members would be happy to take their parents. The three other founding partners are nightclub “godfather” and co-founder of royal hangouts such as Mahiki and Whisky Mist Piers Adam, Raffles boss Jake Parkinson-Smith and Fraser Carruthers, who was behind the South Kensington venue Dorsia.

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Mr Carello said Albert’s would start as a whisky and martini bar in the early evening, then turn into a restaurant before being transformed into a dance venue from 11.30pm onwards. The founders hope to recruit about 1,000 members in the first year paying a £250 joining fee as well as the £500 annual subscription. Around 250 people will also be invited to become life members at a cost of £2,500. The club’s committee includes The Who’s Roger Daltrey, model Jodie Kidd and financier Ben Goldsmith. Albert’s is named after Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert, who was commemorated after his death by creations such as the Albert Memorial, the Royal Albert Hall and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Some of the consort’s love letters to Queen Victoria will be on display, which Mr Carello hopes will inspire the Tinder generation to rediscover old-fashioned courtship rather than “swiping left and right”.

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