Mystery Shopper

Nick Robertson takes a trip into the unknown, well, certainly the less well known, as he reveals one of London’s best kept secrets

- Nick Robertson

WHEN IT COMES to best kept secrets, they are not very often found in London. They are even less often found in the very heart of London, just yards from one of the capital’s most iconic tourist attractions, but maybe that’s exactly the point in this instance.

Each year, millions of tourists pour through Covent Garden tube station, head down the hill and lose themselves in the famous square edged by the Royal Opera House. But next time you take to the crammed elevator (or brave the stairs) on the way to street level, take a moment. Do you want to follow the crowd or do you want to find your own slice of chic London? If you do, simply cross Long Acre, head up Mercer Street and within three minutes you reach the centre of Seven Dials.

Seven Dials was originally laid out by Thomas Neale in the early 1690s, with seven streets stretching out like spokes on a bicycle wheel. The names of the streets were chosen with the intention of attracting affluent residents, and while some of those historic names have changed, the upmarket trend remains. As a centre point of the area, Neale commissioned England’s leading stonemason of the time, Edward Pierce, to design and construct the Sundial Pillar. From the pillar, or with an overnight stay planned the slightly more comfortable Radisson Blu Edwardian which opens out onto Mercer Street opposite the pillar, visitors can explore the seven interconnecting streets, with more than 120 fashion, beauty and lifestyle stores, plus no fewer than 50 independent restaurants, cafés and bars.