Hotel visits: from your first message to a knock on the door

Minute zero: one line goes out on WhatsApp or Telegram carrying her name, your hotel, when to begin and for how long. By minute fifteen, often sooner, a person on the desk has written back wanting the name on your reservation and the room. When those match, the visit is confirmed and she sets off. Across central London her journey normally runs under an hour, and for the hotels clustered around the station it can be a good deal shorter. You get one short message as she sets off, and after that your phone can stay face down.

Few parts of London pack as many hotels so close to the platforms. Hilton London Paddington fills the grand Victorian building at the front of the station, while Hotel Indigo London Paddington and The Pilgrm sit a couple of minutes away on London Street. North of Praed Street, Sussex Gardens is lined with smaller terrace hotels, and the Royal Lancaster London rises over Kensington Gardens at Lancaster Gate. We hold no partnership with any of them. They are named here only because our guests often stay there, and every one is a quick journey for a companion.

She comes dressed for the lobby rather than for attention: a good coat, a small bag, the look of someone meeting a colleague for a drink. Most guests send a text as she reaches the entrance and meet her by the lifts, which keeps reception out of the picture entirely. Where a hotel asks residents to collect visitors in person, add a line to your booking message and she will take a seat in the lounge rather than approach the counter.

An hour allows a drink downstairs and a conversation that never feels hurried. Ninety minutes adds a walk, perhaps round the canal basin or through the Victoria Gate into Hyde Park and back. Two or three hours leave room for a proper supper in between. Whatever the length, you are paying for her time and company alone, and how those minutes are spent is yours to decide. There are no half hour slots, and nothing carries a price beyond the published ladder.

Flats and houses are welcome exactly as hotels are. The desk confirms the address and your full name, then she travels as she would to any lobby. Homes in W2 and Bayswater sit within the first two fare zones, which means her journey adds nothing to the fee. For an address further out, the return taxi fare is named before you agree and folded into a single total.

Delays on the line west are part of life here, so tell the desk the moment the board changes. Cancelling with three hours or more in hand costs nothing, and a later start is usually simple to arrange. Call it off with less than two hours to go and 50 percent is payable; if nobody answers the door, the whole fee is. If you are the one running behind once she has arrived, she allows 15 minutes before the start has to be reset.

Three companions call Paddington home, which keeps the arrival window short. Vanessa suits a guest who wants an easy hour rather than a production, and she will quietly guess which fragrance you are wearing. Nora treats a punctual train as a small reason to celebrate. Laura has a knack for getting a jet lagged guest outside for a lap of the park before the evening settles. Samanta is fascinated by design hotels and knows the Hilton's Victorian details better than most of its guests, and Tiffany likes a glass of something cold at the Royal Lancaster while the trees outside go dark. Vanessa and Samanta are both listed among the slim and slender companions.