Itzel vs Tape London: Which Mayfair Club Suits Your Night?

Last updated: 5 October 2026

These two come up together often enough to be worth comparing properly. Both are Mayfair, both take tables, both have a real door. They are not interchangeable, and which one is right depends on things most comparisons skip over.

The Short Answer

Tape is the better-known room with the bigger reputation and the sound system people talk about. Itzel is newer, runs three distinct spaces instead of one, and opens at a lower minimum spend. If your group agrees on what it wants to hear, Tape. If it does not, Itzel.

Format

Tape is a single proposition executed at a high level — one room, one night, one direction. That is a strength. The best nights at a venue like that have a collective momentum that a split venue genuinely cannot reproduce, because everyone in the building is having the same night.

Itzel is built the other way. The Main Room runs hip hop and eclectic, the Moon Room runs house, and the Taqueria serves Mexican food late. Your group picks a base and moves. It trades that single collective peak for flexibility, and whether that is a good trade depends entirely on who you are going with.

Sound

Tape’s reputation on sound is earned and it is the single most common reason people ask for it by name. If someone in your group cares about how a room sounds rather than just what is playing, that is a real argument and I would not talk them out of it.

Itzel’s programming is the opposite priority: breadth over a single signature. Residents, international headliners and guest selectors in the Main Room, read to the crowd rather than locked to a format. Different aim, not a worse one.

Money

Itzel starts at £600 minimum spend. Tape sits higher, as most of the established Mayfair names do.

For a group of six to eight that difference is material — it is often what decides whether a table happens at all versus the group going on a guestlist and standing. If the budget is the constraint, Itzel gets you a table where Tape might get you a door charge.

Getting In

Itzel’s guestlist takes mixed groups, which is genuinely useful and not something every Mayfair door of this size offers. A door charge applies and varies by night and arrival time.

Both run real dress codes. Itzel’s "elegance with edge" allows more room for personality than a narrow smart-dress policy, and bans sportswear, hoodies, shorts and activewear. Both are strictly 18+; Itzel wants physical photographic ID.

Nights

Itzel runs Thursday to Saturday, 11pm until 3:30am. Tape’s week is longer, which matters if your date is fixed and awkward. If you are planning a Wednesday, this comparison resolves itself.

Location

Both sit in the same part of Mayfair and both are well served — Green Park and Bond Street cover either, and the area has enough traffic that a cab is straightforward at any hour. Neither is a destination trip.

Berkeley Street puts Itzel minutes from a dense run of bars and restaurants, which makes building an evening around it easy. The same is broadly true of Tape. This is not where the decision gets made.

Which for Which Occasion

For a birthday with a mixed group of eight to fifteen who do not all want the same music, Itzel. The three rooms and the lower minimum do exactly the job, and the Taqueria gives a long night somewhere to break.

For a group that knows what it wants and wants it done properly, Tape. Scale and sound are the features, and dividing the night across rooms would only dilute them.

For a first big night out in London, I would usually say Tape, because the room and the sound are what visitors remember. For a group that has done the established names and wants something newer with more room to move, Itzel.

Doing Both

They are close enough to do in one night and plenty of groups do. If that appeals, tell us and we will sequence it so the doors line up and you are not arriving somewhere at its most difficult hour. It works smoothly when arranged and badly when improvised at 1am.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is cheaper, Itzel or Tape?

Itzel. Minimum spends start from £600; Tape sits higher, as most established Mayfair names do.

Which has better music?

Different aims. Tape is a single-room venue with a strong reputation for sound; Itzel runs hip hop and eclectic in the Main Room and house in the Moon Room.

Which is better for a mixed group?

Itzel, on two counts — its guestlist takes mixed groups, and the three-room format means people who want different music can all be happy.

What nights is each open?

Itzel runs Thursday to Saturday, 11pm until 3:30am. Tape runs a longer week.

Can you do both in one night?

Yes, they are close enough. Tell us and we will sequence the doors so the timings work.

Thinking about a night at Itzel? Tell us the date and your group size and we will arrange the table or the guestlist. message us on WhatsApp and we will take it from there.