Around TownW1WPlatform to lobby: 1 min from Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street escorts in W1W, the quiet grid between the Circus and the park
Great Portland Street runs from Oxford Street straight up to the Marylebone Road, and for most of its length it is a working street: offices, showrooms, a few very good restaurants, and the narrow side streets of W1W crossing it every hundred metres. At the top, the station stands beside Park Crescent, Nash's great curved terrace, with Regent's Park just beyond.
Few visitors come here deliberately, which is exactly why guests who know W1 like it. It goes quiet after seven, sits close to everything and is surrounded by some of the best hotels in the West End. Here is how bookings work in W1W.
Stations and lit lobbies
Walking minutes from the nearest platforms, and the hotels around Great Portland 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
- Great Portland StreetCircle, Hammersmith and City, Metropolitan1 min walk
- Regent's ParkBakerloo3 min walk
- Oxford CircusBakerloo, Central, Victoria7 min walk
Hotels as landmarks
- The LanghamMarylebone · W1B 1JA
- Meliá White HouseRegent's Park · NW1 3UP
- Treehouse Hotel LondonMarylebone · W1B 2QS
- The London EDITIONFitzrovia · W1T 3NP
Who comes to Great Portland Street
Companions whose home districts sit nearest to Great Portland Street, so the ride over is short. Everyone in The Selection travels here on request.
Liana
Age 28Marylebone
Rosa
Age 25Marylebone
Molly
Age 24Soho
Tiffany
Age 24Soho
Jasmin
Age 22Soho
Luna
Age 22Mayfair
Samanta
Age 27Mayfair
Angelika
Age 24Mayfair
A street that used to sell motor cars
For much of the twentieth century this was London's motor street, lined with car showrooms, and the streets to the east were the wholesale end of the fashion trade. Today the showrooms are offices and studios, the clinics of Harley Street spread across from the west, and Broadcasting House stands a block away on Portland Place. The side streets, New Cavendish Street, Riding House Street and Hallam Street, are residential and very still at night.
Three kinds of guest
The district draws three kinds of guest. Medical visitors, in town for a consultation on Harley Street or Wimpole Street, often take a serviced apartment for a week or two and want one evening that has nothing to do with appointments. Media and design people come for the BBC on Portland Place, or for the Royal Institute of British Architects at number 66, a building worth seeing for its own sake. And residents of the mansion flats simply prefer to stay in. All three are well served by the district's calm: a companion arriving on Hallam Street at nine is usually the only person on the pavement.
Four hotels within a short walk
The Langham, at the southern end of Portland Place, is four minutes west, and its Artesian bar is one of the best known in London. The Treehouse Hotel London, next door on Langham Place, has rooms with long views and a bar on its top floor. Meliá White House, at the northern end near the station, occupies a white Art Deco building of 1936 on Albany Street. The London EDITION, on Berners Street, is ten minutes south-east. All four are landmarks for us, never partners, and a flat in one of the mansion blocks along Hallam Street is as welcome as any suite.
Circle, Metropolitan, Bakerloo
Great Portland Street station, a minute from the top of the street, serves the Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines. Regent's Park station, three minutes west, is on the Bakerloo line, and Oxford Circus, seven minutes south, adds the Central and Victoria lines. From King's Cross, the Circle or Metropolitan line reaches Great Portland Street in two stops.
Arranging an evening in W1W
Your message to Clementine needs the hotel or building, a start time and a length. She proposes a companion, quotes the price and asks once to confirm your name and the room or flat, and the usual interval before the doorbell is under an hour. Serviced apartments are common in this district and are treated exactly like hotel rooms. Payment is simple: you give the fee to her yourself when you meet. In W1W the hour is priced at £250 and ninety minutes at £400, with two hours at £500; the rates page carries the longer lengths. First-time guests here often settle on the ninety minutes, which allows a drink downstairs and a long conversation without crowding an early start the next morning.
An evening up the grid
Start with an early drink at the Artesian, then walk east to dinner on Great Portland Street itself, where a sushi counter and a few neighbourhood restaurants keep sensible hours. Afterwards, north to Park Crescent, lit and empty, and a few steps into the park if the gates are still open. Back to the hotel through the side streets, where you may not meet another soul. Three hours, at £700, fits the whole thing.
On a weekday the order can just as easily run in reverse: lunch near Portland Place, a slow circuit of Park Crescent and the gardens beyond it, then tea in The Langham's Palm Court before she leaves in the late afternoon. That version sits neatly inside a two-hour booking.
Companions for W1W
Jasmin lives in Soho, a short walk south across Oxford Street, and is fond of the Artesian after nine. Thea, from South Kensington, always asks for seats at the long counter of Sushi Atelier on Great Portland Street. Samanta, from Mayfair, pairs an Academy concert on the Marylebone Road with dinner nearby. Liana and Rosa, both in Marylebone just west of Portland Place, can walk here in ten minutes.
Around W1W
Regent's Park is at the top of the street. Fitzrovia lies to the east, Marylebone across Portland Place to the west, and Oxford Circus at the bottom. Euston Square is one stop east.
Great Portland Street, asked
Not after seven. It is a working street by day and a quiet one by night, which suits a discreet arrival well.
Meliá White House, two minutes away. The Langham and the Treehouse are a short walk south down Portland Place.
Yes. Send the building and flat number with the time; apartments carry the same rates as hotels.
Yes. Afternoons are open as well as evenings; a lunch and a walk to the park fits two hours at £500.
Yes, both are a few minutes east and covered on the same terms.
Read before you go
- 6 min readArtesian hours: The Langham, where Regent Street turns into Portland PlaceLondon's first grand hotel sits where the shops give way to Portland Place. Three rooms downstairs, one famous bar, and how an evening there is timed from the first glass to the last.
- 5 min readFront row at the pass: counter seats and kitchen tables north of Oxford StreetWatching the pass at work turns dinner into a shared show. The counters and kitchen tables north of Oxford Street, what they ask of an evening, and why they suit two people.
Lights on in Great Portland Street
Write the hotel or street in Great Portland Street, the time and how long. Inside Zones 1 and 2 the ride over costs nothing.