Private Dining Rooms in London for Christmas Parties

London has an exceptional choice of private dining rooms for Christmas parties, from intimate restaurant rooms for festive lunches and dinners to larger private spaces for corporate Christmas parties and end-of-year celebrations.

Restaurants, hotels, pubs and other venues across the capital offer private Christmas dining, with options ranging from traditional festive menus to restaurants serving their usual cuisine throughout December.

Private Dining Rooms (PDR) has specialised in private dining since 2008. The Christmas venues below can be compared according to location, capacity, style and price indication.

If you would rather have some help, PDR’s free Venue Finding Service can recommend London Christmas venues according to your date, guest numbers, preferred location, style and budget.

Corporate Christmas Parties in London

A private dining room can work particularly well for a corporate Christmas party, providing your company with its own space while retaining the food, service and atmosphere of a restaurant or hotel.

London has options for everything from a small team Christmas lunch to company dinners and larger parties for 50, 100, 200 or more guests.

For larger corporate Christmas parties, consider whether you need space for arrival drinks as well as dinner. A private bar or separate reception area can make a considerable difference when guests are arriving at different times.

If speeches, awards or presentations are planned, ask about microphones, screens and AV facilities. For parties continuing after dinner, check whether the venue allows DJs, live music or dancing and whether there are restrictions on finishing times.

Christmas Lunches and Festive Dinners

Not every Christmas event needs to be a large evening party.

Private rooms are also popular for Christmas lunches, client entertaining, team dinners and smaller festive celebrations with family and friends.

A lunchtime event can sometimes provide greater flexibility than the most popular December evenings, while still offering the atmosphere of a private Christmas celebration.

For smaller groups, London has intimate private rooms, chef’s tables and other dining spaces suitable for around six to ten guests. You can browse London private dining rooms by capacity if you already know your expected numbers.

Choosing a London Christmas Party Venue

The right venue will depend on considerably more than capacity.

For a Christmas lunch or dinner, consider the style of event you want to create. A traditional dining room may suit a client dinner or formal company occasion, while a restaurant with a private bar or more relaxed event space may work better for a lively office Christmas party.

Location is also important, particularly for corporate events where guests may be travelling from different offices or commuting home afterwards.

Central London areas including Mayfair, Soho, Covent Garden, Fitzrovia and The City of London offer a particularly broad choice of restaurants and private event spaces.

Christmas Party Venues by Guest Numbers

Knowing approximately how many people will attend makes finding the right Christmas venue considerably easier.

A room that works well for 20 guests may feel crowded at 30, while a large event space designed for 100 people can lack atmosphere for a much smaller group.

PDR’s London private dining rooms by capacity include options for:

• intimate groups of up to 6 guests
• small groups of up to 10 guests
• 10 – 20 guests
• 20 – 30 guests
• 30 – 40 guests
• 40 – 50 guests
• 50 – 100 guests
• more than 100 guests

For particularly large company celebrations, see our private dining and event venues for over 100 guests.

When Should You Book a London Christmas Party?

At PDR, we see the Christmas party booking season start surprisingly early. The first enquiries from particularly well-organised PAs and event planners can arrive at the beginning of the year, with the corporate Christmas party season getting properly underway from July.

Every Christmas party season also seems to have one date that everyone wants – usually a Thursday or Friday in December when a disproportionate number of companies want to hold their Christmas party. Once that date begins filling up, the choice of private dining rooms can narrow surprisingly quickly, particularly for larger groups and popular central London locations.

By September, Christmas venue finding is in full swing. Having helped corporate clients find private dining rooms for Christmas parties and other business events since 2008, our advice is straightforward: if your company has a fixed December date, start looking as early as you reasonably can.

If you can be flexible by a day or two, however, you may find that a much wider choice of venues becomes available. This can be particularly useful for larger Christmas parties where relatively few venues may suit your guest numbers, location and budget.

When making an enquiry, provide your preferred date, approximate guest numbers, budget and location, together with whether you need a drinks reception, private bar, entertainment, speeches or presentations. This allows venues to establish quickly whether they have the right space for your Christmas party.

Christmas Menus and Drinks

Festive menus vary enormously between London restaurants.

Some venues offer traditional Christmas menus during December, while others provide seasonal versions of their normal menus or retain the cuisine for which the restaurant is known.

For corporate parties, set or group menus can make ordering and budgeting easier. Larger events may also offer canapés, bowl food, sharing menus or reception packages alongside a seated dinner.

Ask how dietary requirements are handled and whether vegetarian, vegan and allergy-related alternatives need to be ordered in advance.

Drinks packages can also vary, so check whether wine, reception drinks, water and after-dinner drinks are included or charged separately.

Minimum Spends, Room Hire and Christmas Party Costs

December is one of London’s busiest periods for private events, and venues may apply different commercial arrangements during the festive season.

Some private dining rooms operate with a minimum food and drink spend, while others charge room hire or offer a package price. Larger Christmas parties may involve additional costs for AV, security, entertainment, extended hours or exclusive venue hire.

When comparing venues, establish what is included rather than looking only at the headline menu price.

It is also worth checking whether service charge is included in the quoted price or added to the final bill.

Exclusive Hire for Large Christmas Parties

For larger company Christmas parties, hiring an entire restaurant or venue can be an alternative to booking a conventional private dining room.

Exclusive hire gives your guests greater privacy and may provide access to the restaurant’s bar, reception areas and other spaces as well as the dining room itself.

This can work particularly well when the event includes arrival drinks, dinner, speeches and entertainment.

Even if a restaurant does not advertise a private room large enough for your party, it can be worth asking whether exclusive use of the venue is available.

Entertainment, Speeches and Dancing

If your Christmas party involves more than dinner, establish what the venue can accommodate before booking.

For speeches or awards, check whether microphones and AV equipment are available and whether everyone in the room will have a clear view of the speaker.

If you are planning a DJ, live band or dancing, ask about entertainment facilities, sound restrictions and finishing times.

For larger events, also consider cloakrooms, accessibility, security and how guests will move between reception, dining and entertainment spaces.

What to Ask Before Booking a Christmas Venue

When comparing London Christmas party venues, check:

• availability for your preferred date
• seated and standing capacity
• Christmas menu options
• dietary requirements
• room hire or minimum spend
• drinks packages
• service charge
• private or exclusive use
• reception and bar space
• AV facilities
• speeches and presentations
• DJs, live music and dancing
• accessibility
• cloakroom facilities
• finishing times
• transport connections

For larger corporate events, it is particularly useful to give venues your complete requirements from the outset.

Find a Private Dining Room for Christmas

Browse the London Christmas private dining rooms below to compare venues for festive lunches, dinners and parties.

Or use PDR’s free Venue Finding Service and tell us your date, guest numbers, preferred location and budget. We can recommend suitable private dining rooms and Christmas party venues without charging you a booking fee.

Our Events Team can also be contacted on 020 7305 5044.