Around TownW1BPlatform to lobby: 1 min from Oxford Circus
Oxford Circus escorts at the crossing, W1B, from Regent Street to Portland Place
Oxford Circus is where London's two great shopping streets cross. Regent Street, John Nash's sweep of Portland stone, runs south towards Piccadilly and north towards Portland Place, and Oxford Street runs straight across it. Since 2009 the junction has had a diagonal crossing: when the lights change, every car stops and the crowd walks corner to corner in every direction at once.
Three Tube lines meet beneath it, some of the best hotels in W1 are within a few minutes of it, and it sits right at the centre of everything this site covers. Below you will find the hotels, the platforms, the timing and the companions who know the crossing best.
Stations and lit lobbies
Walking minutes from the nearest platforms, and the hotels around Oxford Circus worth knowing by name. They are listed as landmarks, never as partners: any reputable hotel, serviced apartment or private address is welcome.
Nearest stations
- Oxford CircusBakerloo, Central, Victoria1 min walk
- Bond StreetCentral, Jubilee, Elizabeth line4 min walk
- Piccadilly CircusBakerloo, Piccadilly8 min walk
Hotels as landmarks
- The LanghamMarylebone · W1B 1JA
- Treehouse Hotel LondonMarylebone · W1B 2QS
- Hotel Café RoyalRegent Street · W1B 4DY
- The London EDITIONFitzrovia · W1T 3NP
- Courthouse Hotel LondonSoho · W1F 7HL
- SandersonFitzrovia · W1T 3NG
Who comes to Oxford Circus
Companions whose home districts sit nearest to Oxford Circus, so the ride over is short. Everyone in The Selection travels here on request.
Liana
Age 28Marylebone
Luna
Age 22Mayfair
Molly
Age 24Soho
Rosa
Age 25Marylebone
Samanta
Age 27Mayfair
Tiffany
Age 24Soho
Angelika
Age 24Mayfair
Jasmin
Age 22Soho
Four corners, four moods
The north-west corner leads to John Lewis and, behind it, the plane trees of Cavendish Square. Due north, Regent Street climbs to All Souls Church, with its needle spire and round portico, and on to Broadcasting House and the broad avenue of Portland Place. The south-west corner opens onto Hanover Square and the tailoring streets that lead into Mayfair. The south-east corner belongs to Liberty, the timbered department store on Great Marlborough Street, and to the lanes of Carnaby Street and Kingly Court behind it.
In November both streets switch on their Christmas lights within days of each other, and until January the Circus is the brightest crossing in London. The rest of the year its best hour is late: after ten the crowds drain away, the shop fronts stay lit, and a walk across the diagonal takes seconds instead of minutes.
Six hotels around the crossing
The Langham, three minutes north at the foot of Portland Place, is the one most guests mean when they describe their hotel as the one opposite the BBC. The Treehouse Hotel London, beside it on Langham Place, is its opposite in mood, modern and playful, with a bar at the top that looks south over the West End. Hotel Café Royal, down at the southern curve of Regent Street towards Piccadilly, keeps the gilded Victorian Grill Room of the old Café Royal, now the Oscar Wilde Lounge, inside a contemporary hotel. The Courthouse Hotel London, facing Liberty, was the Great Marlborough Street magistrates' court, and its bar still uses the old holding cells.
East of the crossing, on Berners Street, The London EDITION and the Sanderson stand a short walk apart, two of the most photographed lobbies in London. We list all six because guests stay there, never because of an arrangement; there is none, with any hotel. A room anywhere in W1B, or a private address, is equally welcome.
One minute from three lines
Oxford Circus station, a minute from the crossing, serves three lines of its own: Central, Victoria and Bakerloo. Four minutes west, Bond Street adds the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, and Piccadilly Circus, eight minutes south down Regent Street, adds the Piccadilly line. On the Victoria line a companion from Pimlico is here in about six minutes; on the Central line, anyone from Marble Arch or Holborn is two stops away; the Bakerloo brings her from Paddington and Baker Street. Late at night she comes by car, and Regent Street is quick after midnight.
Timing an evening at the Circus
The pavements are at their fullest from late afternoon until about eight, so a hotel arrival is easiest either side of that. Tell Clementine where you are staying, when you would like the door to open and for how long. The reply carries a companion's name and a price; a single check of your name and room follows, and on a typical evening the knock comes inside sixty minutes. A fixed hour later on is best requested in the morning or at lunchtime, when it can be held for you. You settle with her in person as she arrives. At the Circus the first hour costs £250, ninety minutes cost £400 and two hours £500, and the rates page carries the rest of the ladder.
An evening up Regent Street
Start at six in the Oscar Wilde Lounge, all mirrors and gilt. Walk north up Regent Street as the shop lights take over from the daylight, with a detour into Kingly Court for a few small plates, then across the Circus, calm by ten, to a late showing at the Regent Street Cinema, which screened the Lumière films in 1896. The rooftop bar of the Treehouse is three minutes further on, with the West End lit beneath it. Budget three hours (£700), or four for the dinner date at £900.
Companions who know the Circus
Nobody on our list lives at the Circus, but several know it by heart. Tina walks over from Covent Garden and keeps a favourite booth at the Punch Room in The London EDITION. Nora comes in from Paddington on the Bakerloo line and will guide you round Liberty's fabric floor. Danielle, from South Kensington, plans evenings around the Regent Street Cinema. Jasmin, who lives a few minutes south in Soho, prefers a late start with cocktails at The Langham, and Roxi is six minutes away from Pimlico on the Victoria line.
Short walks from the Circus
Oxford Street runs away east and west. Bond Street is one stop, or four minutes on foot, to the west. Great Portland Street leaves Oxford Street just east of the crossing and heads north towards the park. Fitzrovia begins beyond Regent Street to the north-east, around Berners Street and Great Titchfield Street. Carnaby Street and Soho lie just to the south.
Oxford Circus, asked
Yes. Anywhere from Piccadilly Circus up to Portland Place is a short ride or walk from the crossing, and the same arrival times apply.
Yes. Book three hours, £700, so the film and a drink afterwards fit without hurry. Tickets are yours to buy; send the start time and venue with the booking.
The Langham and the Treehouse to the north, Hotel Café Royal to the south, the Courthouse beside Liberty, and the EDITION and Sanderson pair on Berners Street. Any other hotel is fine too.
At any hour; the desk answers through the night. Once the trains stop she travels by car, which along Regent Street is fast.
One hour at £250. Nothing shorter is offered, and nothing is added on top.
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 doors on a Georgian terrace: the small hotels of MaryleboneGeorgian terraces turned into small hotels, where a knock on the door feels like calling at a private address. Three to know, what sets them apart, and how an evening visit works.
Lights on in Oxford Circus
Write the hotel or street in Oxford Circus, the time and how long. Inside Zones 1 and 2 the ride over costs nothing.