Petite frames by home stop: seven companions and the line each rides in on

Jasmin, 160 cm, takes the Elizabeth line from Soho straight into Paddington. Bubbly, curious and fluent in cocktail menus, she prefers starts after nine. Rosa, also 160 cm, comes across to Bayswater from Marylebone and books Sunday to Thursday from dinner onwards.

Sonya, 162 cm, crosses the park from Knightsbridge and keeps a window from five to ten, calm company after a long flight. Tiffany rides the Central line to Lancaster Gate, straight after office hours midweek.

Lea, 161 cm, comes up from Belgravia by cab and is easiest to secure midweek around six. Lucy, 163 cm with dark curls, travels in from Pimlico and suits daytime or a midweek evening. Tina, at 158 cm the smallest companion on the board, crosses town from her Covent Garden home and can often say yes the same day.

Three of the seven have made Portobello Road their own. Jasmin talks bitters with a gin bartender, Tina works through the jazz crates at a long established record shop, and Rosa pulls one album at a time from the racks at another. Lucy prefers the canal, walking the towpath to Little Venice and finding a planet above the rooftops, while Sonya chooses a walled garden in Kensington Gardens before closing time. For a table rather than a walk, see dinner dates in W2 and W11.

Six of the seven are brunettes and Lea has auburn waves. Sonya and Tina also appear under toned and athletic; Rosa is on the curvaceous list and Lucy on the slender one. Four sit in the early twenties band, Jasmin, Lea, Lucy and Tiffany; Rosa and Tina belong to the late twenties; Sonya, at 32, is the only one past 30.

Ninety minutes, £400, is a length many guests choose for a drink and a conversation near the hotel, and a single hour starts at £250. Put the start time in your first message, since most of the seven keep a preferred window, and the desk will tell you when to expect her, usually about an hour after it confirms.

Jasmin and Tiffany both set out from Soho and can travel over together, which makes them a practical pairing for duo bookings in Paddington. One message covers both, the desk lines up a single arrival time, and each is charged her own fare from the ladder, which makes two hours £500 per companion. Tiffany prefers midweek and Jasmin a later start, so an evening that begins around nine on a Tuesday or Wednesday is the easiest to secure.