The NoMad London

The NoMad London

Oscar Wilde was prosecuted here. The Kray twins passed through. Emmeline Pankhurst. The Bow Street Magistrates' Court on Covent Garden's most storied street has a guest list that the hotel, which opened inside it in 2021, can hardly compete with in terms of notoriety, but makes up for considerably in comfort. Roman and Williams, the New York design studio, transformed the Grade II-listed Victorian building into something that manages to feel both deeply London and unmistakably NoMad: dark wood panelling, 1920s flourishes, theatre-inspired art, velvet sofas, marble bathrooms, and at the heart of it all, a soaring glass atrium filled with plants that is one of the most visually arresting restaurant spaces in the city. The former magistrates' and clerks' offices, and in some cases the jail cells, are now 91 rooms and 16 suites, individually designed with hardwood floors, clawfoot baths in many of the suites, and in the best rooms, views directly across Bow Street into the Royal Opera House. The dining and drinking programme is the real argument for staying here. Twenty8 NoMad in the atrium is the main restaurant, an American brasserie with Manhattan energy, high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows onto Bow Street, and the kind of buzz that makes a long lunch feel entirely justified. Side Hustle next door, in the former police station, is darker and more intimate, leather booths, a Californian-inspired menu, an extensive agave spirits list, and cocktails drawn from a programme that won a James Beard award in New York. Common Decency, the subterranean lounge, opens Wednesday to Saturday from six in the evening for those who want the night to continue. The Royal Opera House is across the street. The theatres of Aldwych and the Strand are minutes away. Neal Street, Seven Dials, and the restaurants of Soho are all within walking distance. This is the hotel for someone who wants the Royal Opera House across the street, the West End within walking distance, and a mezcal bar downstairs for when the evening still has somewhere to go. Short version: A former Victorian magistrates' court in Covent Garden, transformed by Roman and Williams into 107 rooms and suites with a glass atrium restaurant, a subterranean mezcal bar in the old police station, and the Royal Opera House directly across the street. The best-located hotel in London for theatre, opera, and the West End.