Hotels near Arts Theatre

6-7 Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB
Nearest Tube: Leicester Square

Turn right off Charing Cross Road just after Leicester Square and you'll find the modest Arts Theatre, probably the closest thing the West End has to an Edinburgh Fringe-style club theatre - with all the financial stresses and wide variances in quality of product that this suggests.

This theatre - atmospherically cosy in West End terms with a capacity of just 350 - was one of London theatre's outlaws in its early years, operating as a private member's club in the 20s and 30s to avoid the strict censorship laws enforced at the time.

Experimental, commercially-unviable new theatre was its modus operandi, and it's retained true to these ethics throughout its life. Indeed, the most notorious play of the 20th century - Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot, directed by Sir Peter Hall - recieved its English-language premiere here, shaking up the world of stage drama in the process.

Hall took control of the Arts for four tumultuous years after this, before going on to make the Royal Shakespeare Company's name in the 1960s.

Over the years its 'Fringe' sensibilities have seen a lot of two-to-four actor shows run briefly at the Arts, some extraordinary, some diabolical, and as such, if you're more interested in seeing some risk-taking theatre with a talented unknown cast rather than watching a famous face go through the motions, the Arts Theatre is well worth a visit.

There's an excellent Photographer's Gallery next door, and you're yards away from the visual and culinary treats of Chinatown.

The Strand Palace is only a very few minutes easy stroll to Covent Garden, the London Eye and Drury Lane. The hotel is located on the Strand in the West End and is close to many theatres, restaurants and bars. To its north lies Holborn and Russell Square, an area that is home to the British Museum, whilst to the east lies Tottenham Court Road, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.

Our most popular tried and tested 3 star hotel in the West End of London. The St Giles is only a short walk away from the Arts Theatre