The territory we are talking about comprises the dogleg of Pall Mall and St James's Street, S.W.1., as well as the immediate environs. The message transmitted by each of these imposing buildings, none with a name on its door, is a very simple one: This is a private institution: Go away.
When planning my stay in Hong Kong, I was surprised that the editors of the "Lonely Planet Guide" felt it was necessary to warn tourists not to take photos of mah-jongg players in their gaming parlours, because (funnily enough) that might give offence. A rather more worldly friend reminded me of the likely level of breeding of the readership. Now transpose that to London clubland, where a dutch Jules Verne enthusiast tries and fails to gain admittance, as a camera-toting tourist, to the Reform Club on Pall Mall - where the journey of "Around the World in 80 Days" was proposed.
The Institute of Directors now occupies the splendid Pall Mall premises of the former ("Senior") United Service Club (whose members, on its demise, were offered membership of the IoD). But the IoD presents itself as a professional institute rather than a clubhouse. I hardly think that conducting a business needs to be weighed down with the impedimenta of professionalism merely because, in practice, the advisory activities of the professions that are concerned with business (mainly lawyers and accountants) have encroached more and more in recent years on the responsibilities of company directors. We have our politicians to thank for that. The IoD subscription, at some two-hundred-pounds per annum, is far less than that of any London club proper. But then again, as the IoD's rules state: "Members should not... direct their mail to IoD premises;... use the public meeting rooms [formerly the members' room and smoking room] for more than 45 days per year..." Not a particularly hospitable atmosphere!
The premises of the nineteenth-century professions (engineers, solicitors and accountants) often have rather grand buildings in the club style. The Law Society in Chancery Lane, W.C.2, an early example, is particularly fine.
A research paper on the rise and fall of the London Clubs in the late Nineteenth Century by Antonia Taddei.
(Added 14 April 2003) Thomas Tallis's Street Views c. 1840 - click on the image for street views of St James's
Here, finally, is a modern tourist guide listing famous clubs and their addresses: here is a interesting, witty social-history essay on Nineteenth Century West End Clubs (with a very comprehensive bibliography), and here is a Regency "tourist guide".