Ten slender companions, grouped by where the evening heads

Cindy takes the tiller of a small electric boat on Paddington Basin in the afternoon. Lucy, dark curled and dreamy, walks the towpath to the pool where the canals meet and names a planet if the sky allows. Liana chooses a nursery garden near Warwick Avenue in Maida Vale, then candlelight and a white wine. Vanessa, a Paddington local, meets on the wide stone steps by the water at Paddington Central. Violetta ends her evening at a small comedy stage above a pub at Little Venice.

Samanta gives a short tour of the Victorian hotel beside the station before dinner. Karolina starts beneath the iron arches of the station roof and walks you to a bridge that curls itself up. Margo prefers the Italian Gardens at dusk, then a park facing lounge on Bayswater Road.

Patricia browses a small bookshop off Portobello Road late in the day and picks a crime novel for you. Stacy, second only to Violetta in height on this list, heads further north to Golborne Road to photograph a brutalist tower against the evening sky, then follows the music back down Portobello Road.

A slender line suits a tailored dress, and six of these ten also stand 172 cm or more. For a hosted dinner or a black tie event, Samanta, Karolina and Violetta are the most practised. Margo, in her early thirties, is the calmest choice for an overnight from the last train to breakfast, best planned a week ahead at £1,800 for ten hours.

Hair varies more here than on any other figure list. Cindy brings the only blonde, Patricia the only auburn, Karolina and Violetta the black of the raven haired list, and the remaining six are brunettes. Six are also statuesque, and Lucy is petite too. By age band the list runs from Stacy and Lucy in their early twenties to Margo and Violetta in their thirties.

Distances west of the park are short, which is the whole appeal. The towpath from Paddington Basin to Little Venice takes about fifteen minutes on foot. The bookshops and bars around Portobello Road are ten minutes by cab from a station hotel, Golborne Road nearer fifteen, and the Italian Gardens a short walk from Lancaster Gate. A two hour booking at £500 comfortably holds one destination and a drink; three hours at £700 allows a destination, dinner and an unhurried return.

Stacy is the likeliest yes for tonight and usually arrives within half an hour. Vanessa, living a few minutes away, is easy to add to a midweek evening. Liana and Patricia prefer a day or so of warning, Karolina a few days for a concert, and Margo a week for an overnight. Say which you need in the first line and the desk sorts the rest.