Tabu London Has Closed — Rumour Has Opened in Its Place

Last updated: 5 October 2026

If you have been looking for Tabu London and finding conflicting information, here is the straight answer: Tabu has closed, and Rumour has opened in the same room at 1 Dover Street. Same building, same address, different club. This is what has changed and what it means if you had a night planned.

What Happened

Tabu ran for years on Dover Street as one of Mayfair's better-known rooms, built around a Japanese-inspired design and a hip hop and RnB programme. It has now closed. Rumour has taken the space and opened in it.

This is not a refurbishment or a rebrand of the same business under a new name. It is a different club in the same four walls, with its own identity, its own door and its own way of running the room.

What Has Stayed the Same

The address, for a start: 1 Dover Street, Mayfair, London W1S 4LD. If you knew how to get to Tabu, you know how to get to Rumour. Same corner of Mayfair, same walk from Green Park.

The operating pattern is also familiar. Rumour runs Wednesday through Saturday, 11pm until 4am — the nights Tabu ran. And it remains a selective, dressed-up Mayfair door rather than a relaxed one.

What Has Changed

The music policy is broader. Tabu was known for hip hop and RnB; Rumour plays open format, which brings house into the mix and leaves the DJs free to move with whoever is in the room on the night.

The look is different — red throughout, where Tabu's identity was built on its Japanese-inspired styling. And the room is positioned explicitly as intimate: around 200 capacity, with the night built around that scale rather than in spite of it.

The guestlist works differently too, and this is the change most likely to catch people out. Rumour's guestlist is for ladies, running from free up to around £20 depending on how busy the night is. Gentlemen are not on the guestlist — mixed groups and groups of men need a table, with minimum spends from £1,000.

If You Had a Tabu Booking

Any booking made for Tabu no longer stands, because the business operating that room has changed. If you had something arranged through us, message us and we will rearrange it at Rumour or at another venue, whichever suits the occasion better.

If you booked directly with Tabu, contact your card provider about any deposit and come to us for the replacement night. We will tell you honestly whether Rumour is the right substitute for what you had planned or whether a different room fits better.

Is Rumour a Good Replacement?

For some groups, yes, and straightforwardly so. If what you liked about Tabu was an intimate, dressed-up Mayfair room on Dover Street, Rumour delivers that, with a broader music policy.

If what you wanted specifically was Tabu's hip hop and RnB programming, open format is a different proposition — it includes that sound but does not commit to it all night. And if you were a group of men planning on guestlist entry, the economics have changed: that route is no longer available here.

There are other Mayfair rooms that may fit better depending on which of those things mattered. Tell us what you liked about Tabu and we will point you at the closest match rather than defaulting to the new tenant.

Why Mayfair Rooms Change Hands

Venues turning over in this postcode is normal rather than alarming. Mayfair rents are high, leases are finite, and a club's commercial life is often shorter than its reputation. Luxx became Funky Buddha, which has since closed too. Libertine and LIO have gone. The rooms outlast the names on them.

For a customer, the practical lesson is to check before you plan rather than relying on a listing or a blog post from last year. For what it is worth, this is a large part of what we do — the venues tell us first, and we would rather update a page than have someone turn up to a door that has changed.

What to Do If Tabu Was Your Regular

If Dover Street was your spot, the honest answer is that Rumour is the closest thing to a like-for-like replacement, because it is literally the same room on the same nights with a comparable door. The music is broader and the guestlist terms differ, but the shape of the night is recognisable.

If what you actually valued was the hip hop and RnB programming specifically, there are Mayfair rooms built around that sound more exclusively, and we would point you there rather than insist on the new tenant. Tell us what kept you going back and we will match it properly.

Getting the Information Right

There is a lot of stale content online about Tabu, some of it ours — years of reviews, guestlist guides and table pricing that described a club that was open at the time. We have left those pages up rather than deleting them, because they are still useful history and people still search for them, but the venue pages now carry a notice pointing here.

If you find something elsewhere that suggests Tabu is still trading, it is out of date. The address is live and busy; the club in it is Rumour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Tabu London still open?

No. Tabu has closed. Rumour has opened in the same space at 1 Dover Street, Mayfair.

Is Rumour just Tabu with a new name?

No. It is a different club in the same room, with its own identity, music policy and door.

What nights is Rumour open?

Wednesday to Saturday, 11pm until 4am — the same nights Tabu ran.

Can men get on the Rumour guestlist?

No. The guestlist is for ladies. Mixed groups and groups of men need a table, from £1,000 minimum spend.

Had a Tabu night planned, or deciding whether Rumour fits? Tell us what you were after and we will sort the replacement. message us on WhatsApp and we will take it from there.