The Best Hair Salon in Covent Garden - According to Everyone But Us
Covent Garden has never been short of opinions about where to get your hair done. It's the kind of neighbourhood where a five minute walk takes you past three hundred years of theatre, three Michelin starred kitchens, and at least one hairdresser who'll tell you they invented balayage. So when Luxury London and TimeOut both named Brooks & Brooks among the best hair salons in the capital, we noticed - mostly because we'd been quietly getting on with it on Great Queen Street for years without saying so ourselves.
This is our attempt to say so ourselves. Consider it less a sales pitch, more a local's guide to why a visit here tends to turn into a proper afternoon out.
A fixture on Queen Street
Brooks & Brooks sits at 28 Great Queen Street, on the Covent Garden side of Holborn - a five minute walk from the station, and close enough to the Freemasons' Hall (the vast Art Deco landmark at No. 60, and one of London's most photographed film locations) that first time visitors sometimes ask if we're part of the tour. We're not, but we understand the confusion; the street has a habit of housing things that are more interesting than they let on.
That's rather the point of the salon too. Individual, elegantly designed rooms rather than a single open floor, a team of stylists who've built genuine specialisms - colour, curly hair, bridal - rather than generalists doing a bit of everything, and a pace that assumes you have somewhere nice to be afterwards. Which, in this postcode, you probably do.
What a good Covent Garden afternoon looks like
We'd never claim to be the reason people visit Covent Garden. But we're increasingly the reason their visit is worth extending.
Before your appointment, the Royal Opera House and Seven Dials are both under ten minutes on foot - the latter for the kind of independent boutiques and coffee that make "I'll just pop in" a two hour proposition.
Staying nearby? The Fielding Hotel, tucked opposite the Royal Opera House on Broad Court, is about as local as it gets - a boutique, family run address that's been putting up Covent Garden visitors for decades. Round the corner on High Holborn, Rosewood London offers the five star version of the same idea, while The Montague on the Gardens, a short stroll north into Bloomsbury, is the choice for something quieter and more townhouse in feel.
Afterwards, Neal's Yard's courtyard of colour and independent wellness shops is a five minute wander, and the Covent Garden Piazza itself - market stalls, street performers, more restaurants than one visit can reasonably cover - is close enough that a fresh blowdry survives the walk.
None of this is why you'd book with us. But it's why the people who do tend not to think of it as "getting a haircut" so much as an afternoon that happens to include one.
As featured in
Brooks & Brooks has been named among London's best hair salons by:
Luxury London - "a cornerstone of London's industry for more than 20 years"
TimeOut London - "they do hair, and do it extremely well"
Glamour - "I will, most definitely, be back"
Cosmopolitan - "took my hair from dull to Scandi in a matter of hours"
Condé Nast Traveller - "a sanctuary from the chaos of the West End"
LDN Fashion - "racked up an impressive trophy cabinet"
What clients say
"Fab location. Amazingly talented stylist (Emma) and haircuts that get compliments on the street! Highly recommended."
- Sharon S.
"I had an excellent experience with Aleena. She took the time to understand what I wanted, made really thoughtful recommendations for both the haircut and at-home hairstyling, and gave me one of the best haircuts I've ever had. I'd recommend her to anyone!"
- Shruti M.
"From start to finish my experience with Brooks and Brooks, in particular Kayleigh, was perfect. My wedding hair lasted from 10am till gone 2am and not a hair was out of place by the end. On the day Kayleigh and the team put all of our minds at ease and helped chill our wedding day nerves..."
- Leppard S.
Book your visit
Whether it's a first colour consultation or your fifth cut with the same stylist, Brooks & Brooks is a two minute detour from everything Covent Garden does best - and, per Luxury London and Time Out, worth the detour on its own merits.
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