Bathroom near Oxford/Piccadilly Circus?

[LemonLimerance]

Hello all!

I am in Central London and going out for a dinner tonight. Would like to know if there are any bathrooms anywhere that I could stop and freshen up a bit. Does anyone know? Happy to buy a drink or cake etc to access them. Just don’t want a dingy pub loo with a queue outside and nowhere to put my bag down. I already feel windswept and bedraggled and will look awful tonight if I can’t take 10 minutes to fix myself up a bit!

Thanks.

I can second Brasserie zedel. Loos are downstairs next to the bar.

As a relatively regular visitor to Brasserie Zedel I have always wondered why the queue for the loos was so long. Now I know!

I like this thread. Secret London Loos. So essential to a good day out there.

What floor are the loos on in Fortnums? and also in Liberty?

faerie Ham Yard Hotel is exactly where I ended up! And it was completely perfect - large rooms with a nice chair to put my bag on, enough that I didn’t create a queue. Hotel idea such a good one! Thanks all!

I’m always a bit nervous to stride into a hotel, pub, restaurant just to use the toilets as I always feel like I should be buying something.

I have IBS and recently on a trip to London was in a heck of a state in Covent Garden queuing for the public loo (had to pay a pound but I didn’t care at that point I was desperate).

So you think it ok to just use toilets in restaurants? Maybe I should just brazen it out!

That’s exactly the reason I went for a hotel, dogleg. Lobbies are full of people coming and going and no one really knows who is who.

As for walking into a restaurant, unless it was large and busy, I wouldn’t. Same with a bar, but they are more likely to be busy with people coming in from outside.

If I were desperate I would go into a bar or restaurant, but I would try to conceal my coat and bag as much as possible so I looked more like a customer popping in from an outside table

Far too late for you op but for future mumsnetters visiting Oxford Circus, top shop has loos in the basement and not had to queue there. Might check out Fenwick's next time, always had to queue in John Lewis. Find covent garden a nightmare for loos dogleg now m&s has gone. Think I'd brazen a pub.

Gatecrashing this thread, but I'm having lunch at BZ tomorrow. What do you recommend (as well as the loos)?

Bit late to the party but there are public loos in St Christopher's Place, between Selfridge's and John Lewis.

The salade niçoise (my favourite dish of all time) is good, and the "small" one is not small!

The quiche is nice too, it's Comté with I think leeks, and so are the sardines. But the fish stew looks a bit dodgy, (for this reason I've never tried it), mostly the smell, I'm not sure the seafood is the very freshest but I'm happy to be wrong on that.

Friends have had the steak and the steak tartare and said they were good too.

The only wine of theirs I've tried is the Chablis and that's always very good.

Have a nice evening!

My post was for Hoghgyni, about Brasserie Zedel! (In case that wasn't clear).

Liking the sound of the quiche. I'm slightly concerned that DD will end up ordering steak tartare by accident then be too embarrassed or pig headed to admit her mistake.

Chochito I have o it ordered fish soup in a French restaurant once, and I couldn’t eat more than a spoonful. It was vile (and I love fish pie).

Public loos in St Christophers Place? That’s good to know!

Adding to this incredibly useful thread, especially for the person who said there's not much in Covent Garden, try the Royal Opera House! Can be accessed from non-Church end of Covent Garden Piazza or via Bow Street. They're trying to be more accessible and welcoming, and have a a rather dull cafe in the foyer so are open all day, and their loos in the basement are brilliant - millions of them with good lighting for make-up!

@dogleg
I don't have ibs but I have a very shit bladder, and when I need to go to the loo, I need to go pretty quick.
I have no qualms about striding into a hotel, shop, Mac Donald's, restaurant or pub to use the loo.
I am quick, I don't leave a mess, and always try and leave the place in a better state than I found it (eg pick up any clean loo roll on the floor & wipe the seat etc), especially if I am not a patron.
If it is a small place/very quiet I ask the waiter/bar person as I go in with a smile, out of courtesy - I can't ever remember being refused (I've been doing this a few decades).

I figure:
a) it's not a crime to need to use the loos, we all need to!
b) I will have bought food & drink usually at some point in the day/evening, but my bladder doesn't go on command, so I can't just sit in a cafe etc for 2 hours til the cup of tea I've had (decaf) makes its way through.
I might not have bought something in the establishment I use the loos of, but what comes around goes around.

I know it cost a business to have facilities and I really appreciate them, otherwise I would have to stay home (and not spend my money in that local economy) or wear Tena pants - which at my age would contribute a massive pile of waste Tena which you would all be paying to get shipped to China to be dumped in the Ocean!

Adding to Covent Garden, I think (think) the Transport Museum has loos which you access through the shop? (So you don't have to pay an entrance fee).

The toilet at the Transport Museum is upstairs through the cafe. You have to run the gauntlet to get past the counter without buying anything, especially as there are only a few tables and a queue.

That's right....my memory isn't great and I've only used it once.
In small places like that I would ask, and I've never been refused.
Most people can relate!

Selfridges!

I use the Westbury hotel when I get a fitting at Rigby & Peller as they don't have customers facilities.

My favourite London loos are Claridges and Rosewood. I love a posh loo full of flowers and clean smells.