My family (husband, three small children)will be visiting London in Sept. and we are currently looking for an apartment to rent for the week. I have found an apartment on the first floor of a building on Brewer St. in Soho. The price is so cheap that I'm afraid it's too good to be true. Could someone tell me a little about the area- is Brewer St. extremely noisy and congested, or is this a bad area for a family? Thanks!

Cheryl, I have been to Soho a few times with friends living in London but I am not aware of the streets. If it is in a main area it could get busy with the bars and nightlife. As well if you are worried about your kids seeing some "alternative lifestyles" then maybe it would not be suitable for a family. How old are the kids?

Kate, Londoners help this Lady

there was a similar thread on this topic not too long ago- do a search and you should find it . Try "kids and soho" .

It's not an area well suited for kids. Brewer street is just off of Piccadilly Circus-a mad house most nights!

I would stay in this area with kids.

Brewer Street is a narrow artery in Soho.It's too narrow to get much traffic, so it's rarely congested.

At its west end, it's almost entirely houses turned into very respectable offices. The area around it has long been a major centre for design companies, film co European HQs and the like. A flat here would be terrific.

At its east end, it's lined with restaurants, a remarkable number of nice idiosyncratic shops, still quite a few creative offices - and several "Adult" book stores (though they're not allowed to display anything disturbing outside) and clubs that might be strip clubs or might be scams for relieving young men of their cash. There used to be a number of flats along here with bellpushes marked "Busty Model: Second Floor". The intersection with Rupert Street and on to Old Compton Street is exceptionally busy at night, and there is a gay scene round that area.

The real sleaze has gone from the area (as, I think, have the Busty Models, though you might want to get a poster who examines these things more often to confirm that). It's heavily trafficked by 18-30 year olds (men and women), out for a good - unsleazy - time.

I'd imagine that living there, there'd be a problem with general raucous noise at night (though there's no loud music) and rubbish collection at some unearthly hour. Certainly walking through the area round 8am, it always seems to have been cleaned up from the night before.

There's no clear demarcation line in this area between where gay-oriented places are and the hetero-oriented places. There is certainly a high chance of seeing some homosexual cuddling at weekend evenings, just as you'd see in any mixed-sex group.

This is not, however, a typical red light district, or a gay cruising area. There are not large numbers of seedy old men in white macs either. It's mostly full of Brityouth chilling out and showing off their coolth.

Many of my friends would happily live in the area these days with small children (if they could abide the youth), except that there aren't many really any suitable flats. It's central, exciting and probably less prone to the normal city risks than most other parts of town. Children are probably exposed to the underbelly of life here no more than anywhere else in a big city. But I can easily understand why it's not for every family.

You're not going to get a more central location than Brewer Street, which is just around the corner from the office in which I'm sitting writing this, but it will depend which end of Brewer Street it is. One end is Regent Street and the other Wardour Street; the latter being the end that you'll find a sprinkling (or more!) of sex shops and peep shows. It will also be noisier.

If your kids are very small then to be honest, they will be oblivious to what's going on around.

Do you have a postcode of the apartment? If so, I can look it up and ascertain which end it is.

This link will give you details of everything - shops etc - on Brewer Street and other streets in Soho

http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/soho/so_intro.htm

Flanneruk...how do you know about the Busty Model?!?! Too funny. I think you described Soho in a nutshell.

I have had many nights out here taken by my pals who are gay to evey type of bar. It was great fun but I would hesitate to take small children here unless you want to do some explaining if they see something they are not accustomed to where you live. The bars are lively and open later and there are a few nice places to eat and chill out with a glass of wine (Can't remember any place we drank or ate in). I did feel a bit of a gooseberry being the only gal in a group of fellas but then again it was like having 4 handsome boyfriends .

It's a fun, camp, lively area, your children should enjoy its vibrant ambience.

Besides, when your children are asleep you can go to the nearby Milk and Honey, one of my favourite bars, and recently voted the best bar in the UK - cheap drinks - a bottle of Krug only has a 10 per cent mark up.

It's centrally located in W1 so all the tourist attractions are close at hand!

m_kingdom2: Hurrah! We finally agree on something! Milk & Honey is also my favourite bar; we may even have been there at the same time and not realised!

There is, BTW, a Soho Society, mostly run by Soho residents (www.thesohosociety.org.uk).Browse the site to get a sense of the area.

To understand the references to the surrounding streets go to this address and play with the zoom:

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...multimap.y=204