Around TownW1SPlatform to lobby: 2 min from Bond Street
After the jewellers close: Bond Street evenings in W1S, with a companion
Bond Street does its business in daylight. The jewellers, fashion houses and watchmakers lock their doors by seven, but the windows stay lit all night, and for an hour after closing the street belongs to the few people walking it slowly. That hour is our favourite on this page.
The street runs north from Piccadilly as Old Bond Street, becomes New Bond Street and ends at Oxford Street by the station. Here are the hotels around it, the stations, how a booking works and the companions closest to W1S.
Stations and lit lobbies
Walking minutes from the nearest platforms, and the hotels around Bond Street worth knowing by name. They are listed as landmarks, never as partners: any reputable hotel, serviced apartment or private address is welcome.
Nearest stations
- Bond StreetCentral, Jubilee, Elizabeth line2 min walk
- Oxford CircusBakerloo, Central, Victoria5 min walk
- Green ParkJubilee, Piccadilly, Victoria7 min walk
Hotels as landmarks
- The Westbury MayfairMayfair · W1S 2YF
- Claridge'sMayfair · W1K 4HR
- Brown's HotelMayfair · W1S 4BP
- The BeaumontMayfair · W1K 6TF
- Hotel Café RoyalRegent Street · W1B 4DY
Who comes to Bond Street
Companions whose home districts sit nearest to Bond Street, so the ride over is short. Everyone in The Selection travels here on request.
Luna
Age 22Mayfair
Samanta
Age 27Mayfair
Angelika
Age 24Mayfair
Molly
Age 24Soho
Rosa
Age 25Marylebone
Tiffany
Age 24Soho
Jasmin
Age 22Soho
Liana
Age 28Marylebone
The street after hours
Old Bond Street is the short southern stretch, some of the most expensive window space in London. New Bond Street is the longer northern run, with Sotheby's, here since 1917, and near the join of the two, the bronze of Churchill and Roosevelt deep in conversation on a bench. North of Brook Street the street widens towards Oxford Street. Alongside it, the pedestrian lane of South Molton Street leads up to the station; across Oxford Street, a narrow entrance hides the courtyard of St Christopher's Place.
The guests this street draws
Bond Street attracts people with a reason to be here. Collectors come for the sales at Sotheby's and the smaller galleries of Cork Street a few minutes east. Visitors take a week at Claridge's around fittings on Savile Row. Travellers ride the Elizabeth line in from Heathrow, bags in hand, and are standing in a Mayfair lobby a short while after landing. What most of them want from an evening is simple enough: company that is at ease among polished surfaces and notices beautiful things without needing to own them.
Five hotels within ten minutes
Claridge's, on Brook Street, is the Art Deco grand hotel of Mayfair and a few minutes from the northern end. The Westbury Mayfair, on Conduit Street, is closest to the street itself. Brown's Hotel, on Albemarle Street, opened in 1837 and is often called London's oldest hotel. The Beaumont, on Brown Hart Gardens, is another Art Deco building, with a crouching figure by Antony Gormley set into its facade. Hotel Café Royal, ten minutes east on Regent Street, completes the list.
We name them as the places our guests are staying, never as partners, and any reputable hotel or private residence in Mayfair works equally well.
The Elizabeth line and two more stations
Bond Street station, two minutes from the north end of the street, is on the Central and Jubilee lines, and since 2022 on the Elizabeth line too, which puts Paddington and Tottenham Court Road a few minutes away in either direction. Oxford Circus, five minutes east, adds the Bakerloo and Victoria lines. Green Park, seven minutes from the southern end, serves the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. For guests flying in, the Elizabeth line runs from Heathrow to Bond Street without a change.
Booking around closing time
Give Clementine three facts: your hotel, a start time, a length. Seven o'clock, as the doors lock, is a good choice. She suggests who can join you and what it will cost, and runs one check on the reservation name and the room. Expect the knock within the hour on most evenings. Your companion dresses for Mayfair, and her fee passes from your hand to hers when you meet. Around Bond Street an hour costs £250 and a dinner date of four hours £900; every other figure sits on the rates page.
Between closing time and dinner
Meet at seven, just as the last doors lock. Walk the street north to south with nothing to buy and everything to look at: the watch windows, the high jewellery, the gowns lit like stage sets. Pause at the bench where Churchill and Roosevelt sit, then turn off for dinner in Mayfair, or head back north across Oxford Street to a courtyard table at St Christopher's Place. A nightcap at Claridge's bar, and the evening closes when you said it would. Three hours, £700, is about right.
December is the best month for this walk. The street strings up its own Christmas lights, the windows grow more theatrical by the week, and the pavements after closing are cold, bright and almost empty. Bring a good coat; she certainly will.
Who lives a walk away
Angelika, Luna and Samanta live in Mayfair, a few minutes from the street on foot. Angelika knows the Sotheby's viewing rooms well and holds firm opinions on what hangs there. Sonya, who lives in Knightsbridge, starts her evenings in the fragrance hall at Selfridges, at the Oxford Street end. Rosa and Liana are a short walk north in Marylebone.
Either side of Bond Street
Oxford Street crosses the top of the street. Oxford Circus is five minutes east. Marylebone begins across Oxford Street by St Christopher's Place and James Street. Grosvenor Square and Berkeley Square lie a few minutes to the west, with Albemarle Street and Dover Street running parallel to the southern end.
Bond Street, asked
Yes, and it is a lovely way to begin. Book two hours or more, name a meeting point such as your hotel lobby, and set the start for seven.
Claridge's, The Westbury, Brown's and The Beaumont, with Hotel Café Royal a little further east. Any other Mayfair hotel is equally fine.
Saturdays stay busy until closing and Sundays are quiet. The fees are the same every day, and a booking that spans a whole weekend is priced on request.
Yes. Give us the street, the door or flat number and whether staff will expect a guest. Homes cost the same as hotels.
Happily, if you want a second opinion; many guests do. The choice and the purchase stay yours, and an afternoon of looking fits two hours at £500.
Read before you go
- 5 min readDinner in Marylebone village, ten steps north of the West EndMarylebone Lane still follows the bends of a buried river. The village kitchens along it and up the High Street, how to choose one for a date, and how the evening is timed.
- 5 min readDurrants and the old Marylebone manner, from the panelled bar to breakfastWood panels, deep armchairs and porters who remember a name. The Georgian hotel behind the Wallace Collection, how its manners shape an evening, and who to invite along.
Lights on in Bond Street
Write the hotel or street in Bond Street, the time and how long. Inside Zones 1 and 2 the ride over costs nothing.