The legendary flagship cocktail bar at the Langham hotel, named for the artesian well beneath it, a four-time World’s Best Bar with opulent decor and boundary-pushing mixology
Artesian holds eight hundred and ninety-nine reviews and an excellent 4.6 – a genuinely superb score on a good sample – and it is a genuine legend: the flagship cocktail bar at the Langham hotel, named for the artesian well beneath it, a four-time World’s Best Bar with opulent decor and boundary-pushing mixology.
The Langham’s legendary bar
Artesian is a genuine and world-famous London institution. It is the flagship cocktail bar at the Langham – the legendary grand hotel that opened in 1865 as Europe’s first grand hotel – and it has served Marylebone since 2007. There is genuine prestige here – the Langham flagship bar, the grand-hotel setting, the world-famous institution. Its name carries a lovely piece of hotel history – it is named after the original artesian well, sunk some 360 feet deep beneath the hotel, a genuine and characterful thread to the building’s past. There is real history and character to it – the Langham flagship, the artesian-well name, the 1865 grand-hotel heritage. It sits gloriously at the top of Regent Street, tucked behind Oxford Street, within one of London’s grandest hotels – a genuine temple of the cocktail. There is genuine prestige and history to it – the Langham flagship, the artesian-well name, the grand-hotel setting. The Prat’s history desk salutes it – the world-famous cocktail bar named for the well beneath a grand hotel.
The four-time World’s Best Bar
Artesian’s reputation is genuinely stratospheric. It was crowned the World’s Best Bar (at the World’s 50 Best Bars awards) for an astonishing four consecutive years, from 2011 to 2015 – a genuine and near-unmatched record of excellence, the Oscars of the cocktail world won four times running. There is genuine and remarkable prestige here – the four-time World’s Best Bar, the near-unmatched record, the global cocktail crown. It has been a genuine pioneer of the bar industry – consistently pushing the boundaries of creative mixology, its celebrated menus (from the Salvador Dali-inspired “Surrealism” to the more recent “Ingredients of the Future”) elevating cocktails to a multi-sensory art form. There is real prestige and artistry to it – the four-time World’s Best Bar, the boundary-pushing mixology, the celebrated menus. The Prat’s cocktail desk salutes it – the four-time World’s Best Bar, a genuine global cocktail legend. There is genuine prestige and artistry to it – the World’s Best Bar record, the pioneering mixology, the celebrated menus.
The opulent room and welcome
Artesian backs its stratospheric reputation with a genuinely opulent room and refined service. There is real opulence to this – the opulent interior, the signature purple leather chairs, the gothic chandeliers, the gilded pagoda-style frames. Its famous look – opulent, theatrical, unchanged since its championship years – features floor-to-ceiling bay windows (flooding the space with light by day), oversized gothic chandeliers (bathing it in a warm glow by night), mirrored shelves in gilded pagoda frames, and its signature purple leather chairs. There is genuine opulence and character to it – the opulent theatrical room, the purple leather, the gothic chandeliers, the bay windows. And it backs it with impeccable, warm, unhurried service – a warm welcome, attentive table service, and a room built for conversation, drawing hotel guests, locals, industry peers and the odd celebrity. There is real quality and warmth to it – the opulent room, the impeccable service, the warm welcome. Its excellent 4.6 across a good sample confirms it – a genuinely superb, world-famous bar. There is real prestige, artistry and warmth in the whole thing – the Langham flagship, the four-time World’s Best Bar, the opulent room, the boundary-pushing cocktails, the warm impeccable service.
Between its legendary Langham home and artesian-well name, its four-time World’s Best Bar record and boundary-pushing mixology, and its opulent room and impeccable welcome, Artesian is a genuine legend of Marylebone. Its excellent score across a good sample marks it as a genuinely superb and world-famous bar. The Prat’s desk enjoys a boundary-pushing cocktail beneath the gothic chandeliers of the world-famous bar, and raises an appreciative glass to Artesian.
The bar
An excellent, world-famous bar doing a superb 4.6 across a good sample – Artesian, the flagship cocktail bar at the Langham, a four-time World’s Best Bar with opulent decor and boundary-pushing mixology.
Verdict
Excellent, world-famous, and a genuine legend – Artesian, the Langham’s flagship bar, a four-time World’s Best Bar with boundary-pushing cocktails.
Enjoy a boundary-pushing cocktail at Artesian in the Langham hotel on Portland Place – the world-famous flagship cocktail bar, a four-time World’s Best Bar named for the well beneath the hotel.
Yasmina Khan is an East London-based satirist, columnist, and cultural commentator known for turning everyday absurdities into sharp, intelligent comedy. Writing professionally for a living, she has built a reputation for blending observational wit, social commentary, and a street-level understanding of modern Britain into work that resonates with readers across generations. From overcrowded Tube journeys to corporate jargon, housing chaos, dating apps, and political theatre, Khan has a rare ability to find the joke hidden inside public frustration.
Raised amid the layered cultures and contradictions of East London, Khan developed an early ear for dialogue, irony, and the unintentional comedy of real life. That background remains central to her voice. Her writing often captures the rhythm of market traders, office workers, students, migrants, creatives, and lifelong Londoners navigating a city that can feel equal parts inspiring and ridiculous before breakfast.
Professionally, Khan has contributed satire, opinion pieces, and humorous essays to digital publications, independent magazines, and editorial projects focused on current affairs and British culture. Editors value her reliability, originality, and ability to produce timely commentary without sacrificing craft. Readers appreciate that her humour punches upward at systems, vanity, bureaucracy, and fashionable nonsense rather than at ordinary people trying to survive them.
Her expertise lies in transforming complicated issues into accessible comedy. Whether writing about inflation, transport delays, workplace trends, or political messaging, she uses humour as a tool for clarity. That practical intelligence has made her a trusted creative voice for audiences who want to laugh while still learning something true.
Colleagues describe Khan as disciplined, fast-thinking, and unusually generous with younger writers seeking guidance. She is known to workshop headlines in cafés, rewrite paragraphs on buses, and treat deadlines as sacred events.
Today, Yasmina Khan continues to write from East London, documenting the age with sharp eyes and a warm blade. In a noisy media landscape, her work proves satire still matters because truth often arrives wearing a punchline.
