Most people join a members' club for one of three reasons: somewhere to eat well without booking weeks ahead, a quiet room to work or meet people, or a social circle that doesn't revolve entirely around work. Ivory Club is built around all three. The tiers exist because members use the building in very different ways — and someone who drops in twice a week for coffee shouldn't be paying for the same access as someone who hosts clients over lunch and brings guests every Friday.

What follows is a working breakdown of each tier: access, fees and guest privileges, in plain English. Read it with your own diary open. The right tier is usually the one that matches how often you'll actually walk through the door, not the one that sounds most impressive when you describe it to someone else.

What every tier includes

Whatever level you join at, the foundations are the same. You get a membership card or digital pass, access to the members' portal for booking tables and event tickets, the right to attend the standard events programme, and the protection of the house rules: no photographing other members, no pitching at the bar, phones on silent in the library.

The welcome is the same too. A tour, an introduction to the team, and an invitation to the new members' evening, where you'll meet people who joined for much the same reasons you did.

Two costs sit outside the tiers and catch people out. The first is the joining fee — a one-off, payable when your application is approved. The second is any minimum spend on food and drink, which some memberships carry and others don't. Compare those two figures alongside the subscription before you decide anything, because a lower annual fee with a monthly minimum can quietly cost more than a higher fee without one.

The tiers, one by one

Social membership

The entry point, and for a lot of members it's enough. Social members have the bar, the lounge and the café, plus the standard events programme and the right to book tables in those spaces. It suits people who use the club as a pleasant place to land after work, or to meet a friend on a Saturday afternoon, rather than as a second office or a dining room.

Guests are welcome, signed in at reception, usually one or two at a time. Full details of what's included are set out in your joining pack, so check the current wording rather than relying on what a friend tells you.

House membership

House adds the dining room, the smaller workrooms, and a longer booking window — you can reserve a table further ahead, which matters in December and on any evening with a big event on. It's the tier most members settle on, and the one that tends to make sense if you'll be in three or four times a month and want to eat properly when you are.

Signature membership

Signature is for members who use Ivory Club as part of how they work and socialise. It brings priority booking across the house, access to the private rooms for meetings, support from the events team when you're hosting, a set number of complimentary guest visits each month, and reciprocal arrangements with partner clubs in other cities — useful if you travel for work and want somewhere to sit between appointments.

Patron membership

The top tier, and the one to discuss in person rather than pick off a page. Patron memberships normally include additional named members, a direct contact on the membership team, private dining, larger hosting allowances and an allocation of tickets to headline events. If this is the level you're considering, ask for a conversation with the membership team; the structure can be shaped around how you actually use the club.

Concessionary and out-of-town options

Ask about reduced subscriptions for younger members and for those who live beyond a certain distance from the club, both of which usually come with restricted hours or weekday-only access. These aren't always advertised, but they exist, and the membership team would rather tell you about them than have you join at a level you can't justify.

How the fees actually work

Four numbers matter. The joining fee is one-off and generally non-refundable. The subscription is annual, usually payable in one go or by monthly direct debit — the monthly option often costs slightly more across the year. The minimum spend, where it applies, is a set amount on food and drink per quarter or per year. And the notice period tells you how much warning you need to give if you leave.

Ask three further questions before you sign: can you upgrade mid-year and pay the difference pro-rata? Can you downgrade, and does that only happen at renewal? And what's the process if your circumstances change — a move abroad, a long illness, a new job with different hours? Good clubs answer all three without hesitation.

If you're joining through a company, or hoping to claim the subscription as a business expense, speak to your accountant about how it would be treated. The rules depend on your circumstances and it isn't something the club can advise on.

Guest privileges, in plain terms

• Signing in. Every guest is signed in at reception. Members are responsible for their guests throughout the visit, including behaviour and any bill left unpaid.
• Guest fees. Some tiers include a number of complimentary guest visits; beyond that, a fee usually applies to food and drink. Check whether the allowance resets monthly or annually.
• Unaccompanied guests. In most clubs, a guest can only be in the building with the member who signed them in. Assume this applies unless you're told otherwise.
• Numbers. Social and House memberships typically allow one or two guests at a time. Signature and Patron allow larger groups, sometimes with notice.
• Repeat visitors. If the same friend is in every week, the membership team will gently suggest they join. It's a fair rule, and it keeps the atmosphere right.
• Events. Guests can usually attend ticketed events with you, at a guest rate. Popular evenings sell out, so book early.

How to choose: four questions to answer honestly

1. How often will you come? Once a month points to Social. Twice a week points to House or above.
2. What time of day? If most visits are evenings and weekends, check which spaces are open to your tier at those hours.
3. Will you bring people? If you host regularly, the guest allowance is worth more than an extra room you'll rarely use.
4. Is this work or pleasure? Meetings, private rooms and reciprocal clubs belong to Signature. If you're mainly here to read the papers and eat well, House covers it.

One more consideration: choose the tier you'd be happy renewing in a quiet year. Memberships are usually easiest to upgrade than to downgrade, and it's better to grow into a tier than to resent it every January.

Before you apply

Ask for the current rate card in writing, so you're comparing actual figures rather than remembered ones. Book your tour at a time you'd genuinely use the club — a Tuesday at six tells you far more than a Saturday at noon. Meet two or three members if you can, and ask what they'd change. And check the notice period, the minimum spend and the guest allowance one last time before you sign.

Then decide. If you're torn between two tiers, take the lower one for a year and see how you use the place. You'll learn more in twelve months of real visits than in any amount of comparing pages on a screen.

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