Hotel in Fitzrovia, London

Fitzrovia W1 - Free thinkers and media magnates have gathered in this bohemian quarter of central London for nigh on a century.

Technically covering the area north of Oxford Street to Euston Road and framed by Tottenham Court Road in the east, Portland Place in the west, Fitzrovia has international ad agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA, TV houses like MTV Europe and Nickelodeon, and London’s own entertainment bible, Time Out, is published within the district’s boundaries.

The unique BT Tower stands at the centre of Fitzrovia and it’s cultural heart is the Fitzroy Tavern (16a Charlotte Street, 020 7580 3714): this boozer was home to the inter-war chatter of Fitzrovia’s greatest minds including Dylan Thomas, Quentin Crisp and George Orwell, and gave the district its name. Now owned by the estimable Samuel Smiths chain – think Wetherspoons prices but without the chavs – it’s well worth a pint.

Orwell himself name-checked another Fitzrovia hostelry in his novels ‘1984’ and ‘Keep The Aspidistra Flying’: The Newman Arms (23 Rathbone Street, 020 7636 1127, www.newmanarms.co.uk), once a brothel, now a family-run traditional pub with outstanding pies. Poets and playwrights also love Fitzrovia: Rimbaud and Verlaine shared a house on Howland Street, and 29 Fitzroy Square was at various times home to George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf.

There’s a clutch of good, small commercial art galleries around, and Pollock’s Toy Museum (1 Scala Street, 020 7636 3452, www.pollockstoymuseum.com) is a must-visit, home to ancient teddies, mechanical toys, miniature theatres and dolls guaranteed to arouse nostalgia for a more innocent age.

Back in the modern world, you’re right next to Oxford Street for the capital’s best high street shopping and the wild nightlife of Soho.

A popular and convenient hotel for this part of town is the St.Giles Hotel, (Bedford Avenue), or why not try the aptly named Fitzrovia Hotel (Bolsover Street), another hit with visiting tourists. 

Warren Street, Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street Underground stations are all situated around Fitzrovia’s borders, and Euston’s major rail station is just to the north.

Related London W1 Hotel Pages

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Fitzrovia: Tube (underground)

Fitzrovia: Rail (overground)