Published May 22, 2026 12:45pm
Updated May 22, 2026 2:49pm
Wetherspoons is officially about to descend on the iconic theatre district in London, launching its first ever location in the West End.
The pub operator will be taking over part of what was once the iconic Trocadero complex on 30 Shaftesbury Avenue – a former entertainment complex built in 1896.
Extensively rebuilt over time, the development became a major entertainment destination in the 1990s with SegaWorld. But with rising financial restraints and attractions closing floor by floor, it quickly lost much of its charm.
Now, the majority of the site is taken up by the Zedwell Piccadilly Circus hotel, which opened in 2020, with 728 windowless rooms and a large rooftop bar.
The pub’s opening will likely serve as a crucial element in a long-term vision to reposition the Trocadero estate as a thriving hub in the capital.
The pub, which is being called Piccadilly Hall, has not yet got an official launch date.
However, what we do know is that the new venue is being backed by Criterion Capital, a real estate owner and property developer who’ve indicated big plans to regenerate the area.
A multi-million-pound investment, the pub is expected to be one of central London’s biggest venues, spanning more than 3,600 square feet with the capacity for around 280 covers.
The new location will be open from 7 am to midnight, offering food and drink from breakfast through to the late evening.
Given the prime location, Piccadilly Hall will certainly attract tourists, theatre goers, and workers looking for a cheap pint.
With some bars in central London breaking the £10 per pint barrier, the sight of a Wetherspoons sign might just prove to be a whopping crowd pleaser.
The news comes not long after Spoons also revealed it would be opening a ‘mega-pub’ in Paddington Station.
Similarly to the West End venue, the proposed new branch would occupy more than 3,600 square feet across two floors, including a mezzanine level, and would take over three units in the station’s former ticket hall.
Other new openings have included The Sun Wharf at London Bridge and Walham Green, now found in the former ticket hall at Fulham Broadway.
My honest review of London’s cheapest hotel room that starts from £30 a night
Metro‘s Travel Editor, Alice Murphy, recently spent a night in the viral Zedwell Piccadilly Circus Capsule hotel.
Fitted with over 1,000 individual sleep capsules, (or ‘cocoons’ as Zedwell call them), the pods clock in at around one metre by 2.2. With cheap hotels becoming a thing of the past, £30 per night is an attractive prospect. But, is it worth it?
‘Each dorm contains between eight and 100 cocoons, and mine – 1409, on the first floor – has somewhere in the middle. All are painted, rather unsettlingly, in black.
‘The cavernous, elongated room looks like the aisle of a plane, with a strip-lit corridor flanked by numbered pods stacked two or three high, bunk bed style. You can request top or bottom in advance (I’m on top).
‘There are no windows – all sealed off to drown out noise and accommodate Piccadilly Circus’ famous wraparound billboards – but it’s not exactly restful.
‘It is the exact dimensions of a single bed (in that respect, you’re treated to a Hypnos mattress and Egyptian cotton sheets), and there is a light, one pillow, a duvet, two hooks, a small shelf and a socket to charge my phone.
‘I’m 5ft 4, and I can just about sit up straight. When I send a picture to my friends, one replies that it looks like a transit van.’
Read Alice’s full review here.
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