Full Venue Hire at The Spaniards Inn

The Spaniards Inn was built in 1585, and unlike most historic London pubs, the heritage isn’t a vague claim — this is a Grade II listed building where Keats genuinely wrote ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ in the garden, Dickens namechecked it in The Pickwick Papers, and Bram Stoker borrowed it for Dracula. The white weatherboarded exterior still juts into Spaniards Road, creating the famous bottleneck that’s been a Hampstead landmark for centuries. Inside: oak panelling, low ceilings, old wooden settles, and an open fire. The atmosphere here is authentic in a way that no conversion or refurbishment can simulate. For private events, the pub offers two dedicated dining rooms and a large walled beer garden — a combination that handles everything from intimate private dinners to summer celebrations for larger groups.

The Keats Room

Upstairs, the Keats Room takes up to 30 guests for private dining. Period character throughout — this is a first-floor room in a building that’s over 400 years old, and it feels like it. The room works for private dinners, milestone celebrations, and small corporate events where the setting needs to do some of the work. For literary-minded clients or publishing industry events, the connection to Keats is real, not decorative — he sat in this building and wrote one of the most famous poems in the English language.

The Dickens Room

The Dickens Room seats up to 40, with original wooden floors and natural light that distinguishes it from the pub’s more enclosed ground-floor rooms. It’s the larger of the two private spaces and suits dinners, receptions, and private parties where you want a dedicated room with genuine character but a little more breathing space than the Keats Room offers. The two rooms can work in sequence for events that want to separate drinks from dinner, or each can be hired independently. At 30 and 40 capacity respectively, they cover the range of private dining group sizes that fall between a restaurant booking and a banqueting hall — a sweet spot for corporate entertaining, family celebrations, and small social gatherings.

The Walled Garden at The Spaniards Inn

The garden is substantial — a walled outdoor space with comfortable seating, sheltered tables, patio heating, and BBQ facilities. For summer events, it’s the headline space: large enough for significant gatherings, with the pub’s kitchen providing BBQ catering alongside the regular menu. The combination of a walled setting, heating, and sheltered areas means the garden is usable well beyond the peak summer months. This is the garden where Keats sat when he wrote ‘Ode to a Nightingale,’ which gives it a resonance that most pub gardens — however pleasant — simply don’t carry. It works for summer parties, team socials, and celebrations where the outdoors is part of the event rather than an afterthought. The proximity to Hampstead Heath means guests can walk the Heath before settling into the garden, which adds a dimension to the event that no central London venue can match.

Food and Drink at The Spaniards Inn

In-house catering covers set menus, buffets, and canapés for private events, alongside summer BBQ options in the garden. The kitchen works across formats — from formal three-course dinners in the Keats Room to relaxed garden dining with shared platters. The pub’s drinks list runs from cask ales and craft beers through fine wines and artisan spirits — this is a pub with a genuine beer programme, not just a standard lineup. Both private rooms operate on a minimum spend model. The licence runs until 11pm — this is an evening venue rather than a late-night one, and the character of the pub suits it.

Getting to The Spaniards Inn

The pub sits on Spaniards Road, NW3 7JJ, on the edge of Hampstead Heath. Kenwood House is an eight-minute walk, and the 18th-century toll house still stands directly opposite. Bus routes serve the area, with Hampstead and Golders Green tubes as the nearest stations. The Heath-edge location puts you somewhere that feels far from London while remaining technically inside it — a quality that’s hard to find and impossible to manufacture.