Criterion Capital acquires St Giles London Hotel in West End deal

Criterion Capital has officially acquired the 732-room St Giles London Hotel on Tottenham Court Road, bringing the prominent West End site back under single ownership for the first time in more than three decades.

The hotel occupies an island site at the junction of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, next to Tottenham Court Road Underground station, which is served by the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines. The area has some of the highest footfall in London and is close to Theatreland, the British Museum and several universities and hospitals.

The acquisition completes Criterion’s long-term effort to consolidate ownership of the wider site, which has been fragmented since its original development. The St Giles hotel was sold by the YMCA in 1993 to Ravenscroft Investments, after which the freehold and surrounding assets remained in separate hands.

Criterion, founded by property investor Asif Aziz, has gradually assembled interests across the site since the mid-2000s. This included the purchase of the underground National Car Parks facility in 2006, which was later redeveloped into a hotel operated under the company’s Zedwell brand.

The latest transaction follows the YMCA’s decision to cease operations at the site in 2025. After the closure, the organisation approached Criterion about the sale of its remaining freehold interest, allowing the group to reunify the entire development.

Criterion said the deal forms part of its long-term approach to owning and managing central London assets, with a focus on redevelopment and reuse of existing buildings rather than demolition.

Following the acquisition, Criterion’s West End hotel portfolio comprises more than 3,700 operating rooms. The company said it has a development pipeline that is expected to take its total room count to more than 9,000 by 2029.