Stratford, E20 and E15: six lines into one station

Stratford station is two minutes from the shopping centre's eastern doors and about six from the park hotels. Stratford International, with the DLR and the high speed platforms, is six minutes from the same hotels and the quiet way in. Stratford High Street on the DLR is eight minutes south and serves the older E15 streets.

From Canary Wharf the Jubilee line takes nine minutes. From Bond Street the Central line takes eighteen. From Liverpool Street the Elizabeth line takes seven. Those three numbers cover where most of our companions start, and they are why an hour of notice is often enough here when it would not be anywhere else.

The hotel at E20 1FD is the tall one on Celebration Avenue, with planted terraces and rooms looking across the park; it takes most of the district's evening bookings. Another at E20 1GL sits beside the International station, six minutes from the main concourse.

A third shares that E20 1GL address and is the apartment style option, which suits a longer stay. None of the three has any arrangement with us. Past them, the East Village flats and the newer blocks along the Greenway are covered on identical terms.

The three sit close enough together that the walk between any two of them is under ten minutes, which matters if your evening starts in one lobby and ends in another. Name the building rather than the brand when you write; two of them share a postcode and the entrances are on different streets.

The shopping centre closes at 22:00 and the restaurants around it run later, which gives the district a natural second half. Two hours at £500 is the standard booking: a table at eight, then back to the hotel while the crowds are still queueing for the Central line. Ninety minutes at £400 suits a guest with an early start in the City or on the dock.

Who writes from here: people in town for an event at the stadium or the arena beside it, consultants on long placements in the East Village, and a fair number of travellers who chose Stratford because it is twenty minutes from everywhere. The desk treats all three the same way.

Lea and Stacy are anchored in Stratford and know which of the park side restaurants still seats at half nine. Laura comes up from the Royal Docks in twelve minutes. Michelle takes the nine minute Jubilee run from Canary Wharf when the evening is a late one.

Six to eight names are listed here and the rest are on the desk. Stratford is the easiest district on this site to fill at short notice, but the answer still carries a true arrival time and never a hopeful one.

Canary Wharf is nine Jubilee minutes south. Royal Docks and ExCeL is twelve minutes by DLR through Canning Town, which matters in a fair week when both districts fill at once. Liverpool Street is seven minutes west on the Elizabeth line and the usual way into the City of London from here.

Stratford sits across two fare zones on paper and we treat it as travel included, so nothing is added to the figure you are quoted. The only fare on this site applies to E16. Lengths are on rates, and booking sets out how a slot is confirmed.