Overnights: ten unhurried hours between the last train and breakfast

Begin at 20:00 with a drink in the hotel bar. Sit down to dinner at 20:45, somewhere within ten minutes of the lobby. Return around 23:00 for a nightcap and whatever conversation the evening still holds, then lights out whenever you choose. At 06:00 the ten hours close over coffee. Start later and the morning shifts with it: a 22:00 arrival runs to 08:00, leaving time for breakfast before a mid morning departure. The hours move to suit you, but ten hours always means ten hours.

Overnights run best when arranged at least a day in advance, which gives the desk time to find the right companion and gives her time to organise her own evening around yours. Send the date, the start time, the hotel and any dinner reservation. Once your name and room are verified, the desk writes out a short summary of the night so that both sides are working from the same plan.

Park facing rooms at the Royal Lancaster London are a popular choice, since the view over Kensington Gardens is worth waking up to. The Hilton London Metropole on Edgware Road works well for guests with a conference session first thing, and the smaller hotels around Lancaster Gate and Sussex Gardens go very quiet after midnight. Private homes along the canal in Maida Vale are welcome once the address has been confirmed.

She arrives with a small overnight bag that looks like any other guest's luggage, and leaves in the morning just as calmly, at a time you agree the evening before. The desk does not call during the night unless you ask it to. Your details confirm the booking and are never kept for marketing or passed to anyone else.

How a night ends counts for as much as how it begins. Tell the desk the evening before when your alarm is set, whether you have a train, a flight or a breakfast meeting, and whether you would like the room quiet while you get ready. She wakes with plenty of margin, dresses without fuss and leaves on the agreed minute. If room service suits you, order breakfast for two the night before; if you are racing for an early Heathrow Express, a coffee and a quick goodbye in the lobby works just as well.

Cancel with three or more hours of notice and nothing is owed. With under two hours remaining, 50 percent is owed, and not turning up at all costs the full £1,800. When a delayed train pushes your arrival back, tell the desk early; the start can often slide later rather than being lost.

Sonya opens every day with meditation, and a guest who arrives wound tight is usually breathing more slowly within half an hour of meeting her. Margo speaks in a low, level voice, favours questions over confessions and suits anyone who has spent the week negotiating. Lucy is soft spoken and wry, and on a clear night may name the bright planet above the park before the curtains close. Patricia pays close attention to small things and brings them up again, kindly, over breakfast. Sonya and Margo are two of the companions in their thirties.