Fitzrovia has lost its best known small museum and is about to gain a hotel in its most famous building, and most guides to the area still describe neither correctly.
Pollock’s Toy Museum has left Fitzrovia. The collection of bears, dolls, toy theatres and games that sat behind Goodge Street for decades is now in two other places entirely: Croydon and Leadenhall Market.
And the BT Tower is becoming a hotel. BT Group announced the sale of the Grade II listed tower to MCR Hotels for 275 million pounds in February 2024, with the buyer saying it intends to preserve it as a hotel.
Where Pollock’s went
Two sites, both with short and specific hours, and neither in Fitzrovia.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Croydon, CR0 1UQ: open every Saturday, 11am to 4pm, with highlights from the collection and a display of toys made in local factories. The current exhibition, on toys that move using breath, wind and gravity, runs on Saturdays at the same hours.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LR: open Thursday and Friday, 11am to 3pm. A small museum with a shop, inside the market.
Between them that is three days a week across two postcodes, so this needs planning rather than wandering into. The museum began as Benjamin Pollock’s Victorian theatre printing shop in Hoxton, which is a third address again.
The BT Tower
At 620 feet, it was the tallest building in London for 16 years, until the NatWest Tower went up in the City.
It is Grade II listed, and BT’s own announcement said the operations it once housed are now delivered across the network instead, which is why it was sold. MCR Hotels, one of the largest hotel operators in the United States, bought the tower and podium and plans a hotel led development.
It is not a hotel yet. What it is today is the thing you navigate by: from most of Fitzrovia, you can see it, and the street grid makes more sense once you do.
Charlotte Street
The spine of the area, and the reason people come in the evening. Restaurants and bars run most of its length, and it is the street the neighbourhood is named after in everything but the official sense.
Charlotte Street Hotel is the landmark on it: 52 rooms designed by Kit Kemp, decorated in homage to the Bloomsbury Group who met a few streets east, and holder of one Michelin Key for 2026. Its bar and restaurant, Oscar, spills out onto the street and serves brasserie and modern European food.
For where to actually eat, the Marylebone restaurants and the Soho restaurants cover the two areas Fitzrovia sits between, both within a few minutes’ walk.
Regent Street Cinema
At the western edge, at 307 Regent Street, is where British cinema began: the Lumière brothers showed their Cinématographe to a paying audience here in 1896.
It still runs, with a classic matinee every Monday at 1pm and an organ recital on the first Monday of the month. Our Regent Street Cinema page has the prices and the history, including the 32 years it spent as a lecture hall.
Where Fitzrovia actually is
North of Oxford Street, west of Tottenham Court Road, south of Euston Road. It is the quiet bit between Soho and Bloomsbury, which is why people walk through it without noticing they have.
Goodge Street and Warren Street on the Northern line, and Tottenham Court Road on the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines, all serve it. Oxford Circus is a short walk from the western end.
How to use it
Evening: Charlotte Street, which is the restaurant and bar street and needs no further planning.
Monday afternoon: Regent Street Cinema, for the 1pm classic matinee, and the organ if it is the first Monday.
Looking for Pollock’s: do not come here. Croydon on a Saturday or Leadenhall Market on a Thursday or Friday.
Oxford Street is the southern boundary, and Marylebone is the neighbour to the west.
Charlotte Street Hotel
- Address
- Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London W1
- Nearest
- Goodge Street or Tottenham Court Road
- Booking
- Online
- Price
- A small luxury hotel with 52 rooms. Oscar, its bar and restaurant, serves brasserie classics and modern European dishes
- Standing
- Designed by Kit Kemp in homage to the Bloomsbury Group, and holder of one Michelin Key for 2026
How to get in
The bar and restaurant spill out onto Charlotte Street, which is the eating and drinking spine of Fitzrovia.
BT Tower
- Address
- Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, London W1
- Nearest
- Goodge Street or Great Portland Street
- Price
- Not open to the public
- Standing
- Grade II listed and 620 feet tall, the tallest building in London for 16 years until the NatWest Tower
How to get in
BT Group announced the sale of the tower to MCR Hotels for 275 million pounds in February 2024. The buyer intends to preserve it as a hotel. It is not open to visitors.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Croydon
- Address
- Croydon, London CR0 1UQ
- Nearest
- East Croydon or West Croydon
- Hours
- Saturdays only, 11am to 4pm
- Booking
- None
- Price
- See the museum for current admission
- Standing
- One of the two homes of the collection that used to be in Fitzrovia
How to get in
Shows highlights from the collection plus a display of toys from local factories, with regular events and activities.
Pollock’s Toy Museum Leadenhall Market
- Address
- Leadenhall Market, London EC3V 1LR
- Nearest
- Monument or Bank
- Hours
- Thursday and Friday only, 11am to 3pm
- Booking
- None
- Price
- See the museum for current admission
- Standing
- A small museum with a shop inside the historic market
How to get in
The second of the two sites the Fitzrovia collection moved to. Between the two, the museum is open three days a week.
Where to go next
Regent Street Cinema covers the one thing in Fitzrovia you can actually book, and the Marylebone restaurants cover dinner just west.
Soho is a minute south, Oxford Street is the boundary, and the West End shows are a short walk from the end of Charlotte Street.
Questions we get asked
Is Pollock's Toy Museum still in Fitzrovia?
No. The collection has moved to two other sites: Croydon, CR0 1UQ, open Saturdays 11am to 4pm, and Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LR, open Thursday and Friday 11am to 3pm. Between them that is three days a week.
Is the BT Tower becoming a hotel?
That is the plan. BT Group announced in February 2024 that it had sold the Grade II listed tower to MCR Hotels for 275 million pounds, and the buyer says it intends to preserve it as a hotel. It is not open to the public.
Where is Fitzrovia?
North of Oxford Street, west of Tottenham Court Road and south of Euston Road, between Soho and Bloomsbury. Goodge Street and Warren Street on the Northern line and Tottenham Court Road on the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines all serve it.
What is there to do in Fitzrovia?
Charlotte Street is the restaurant and bar spine of the area. Regent Street Cinema, at the western edge, is where British cinema began and still runs a classic matinee every Monday at 1pm. The BT Tower is the landmark, though it is not open to visitors.
How tall is the BT Tower?
620 feet. It was the tallest building in London for 16 years, until the NatWest Tower was built in the City.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 221 in the guide.
Last checked 5 October 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
