Escorts near Paddington, the basin stop 2 minutes from the trains

Leave the station by the Praed Street exit and the working spine of the district is right in front of you. St Mary's Hospital stands on one side of the street; it was here, in 1928, that Alexander Fleming noticed the mould that became penicillin, and his small laboratory is still kept as a museum. Cross over and the scale softens at once. Norfolk Square opens behind a row of shops, and Sussex Gardens stretches away towards the park, its terrace houses almost all small hotels with black railings and lit porches.

Head north instead and Paddington turns modern. Paddington Basin and Merchant Square hold offices, apartment towers and canalside terraces, with two bridges worth a short detour: the Rolling Bridge, which curls itself up into an octagon, and the footbridge at Merchant Square, which lifts in sections like a fan being opened. Past Paddington Central the towpath heads for Little Venice. After dark the basin is calm, well lit and a few minutes' stroll from most W2 lobbies.

W2 is thick with hotels, and companions walk into the following most weeks. Think of them as stops on the line, not as associates. We hold no agreement with a single one of them, and none is required: a guest receiving a visitor is routine hotel business at every hour.

W2 1EE is the grand one, the Victorian railway hotel fronting Praed Street and joined to the station building. W2 2TY rises over Lancaster Gate, ten minutes south on foot, a slim tower with the park spread out below its upper rooms. Two smaller, design minded choices sit side by side on London Street, two or three minutes from the taxi rank. W2 6BD sits on Kingdom Street at Paddington Central, beside the canal, and suits guests working in the offices around it.

Serviced apartments around the basin, the guest houses of Sussex Gardens and private flats are visited on exactly the same terms. Add the building name to your message and the desk takes care of the rest.

Paddington station is 1 minute from the hotels that face it. Underground, it serves the Hammersmith and City, Circle, District and Bakerloo lines; beside it runs the Elizabeth line; on the main platforms stand National Rail services and the Heathrow Express, whose non stop run to the terminals takes roughly a quarter of an hour. Edgware Road, served by those same four Underground lines, lies roughly 7 minutes' walk east along Praed Street. For the Central line, Lancaster Gate is a walk of around 8 minutes south, where Lancaster Terrace meets the park.

All three sit in Zone 1, so a companion's journey into Paddington is folded into the fee and never appears as a line of its own.

The desk reads WhatsApp and Telegram around the clock and normally answers within 10 to 15 minutes. One message carries everything: the companion, the start time, how long, and the hotel. The reply confirms who is free and the total. Next comes the short check every booking carries, your full name and room number read back in the same chat, and once those match the time is written down as hers and yours.

From there the clock is ours to keep. The usual wait for the knock is about an hour from confirmation, stretching in the Friday crush or when she crosses town, and Florence posts her setting off time in the chat so nothing runs on guesswork. If you would rather choose the exact minute, book a few hours ahead and she arrives precisely then. The fee goes to her directly when she walks in, and the booking page sets out each stage.

18:30, the train from Terminal 5 pulls in. 18:40, you are checked in, with time to shower and change. 19:15, she meets you in the hotel bar, and the first drink settles whether the evening leans towards talk or towards quiet. 20:00, a slow walk up to Merchant Square while the office windows go dark and the boats along the basin switch on their lamps. 20:20, dinner at a canalside table, nothing too formal. 22:15, back through the basin for a nightcap at the hotel. 23:15, the booking closes after four hours on the £900 dinner date rate, with nothing added for her travel.

Laura, Nora and Vanessa all list Paddington as their home district, which makes them the natural first names for any W2 room.

Laura, green eyed and outdoorsy, takes short notice requests from midday and is the one to try when a meeting has ended early. Nora, honey blonde and seldom seen without a flower pinned to her outfit, likes a day's notice and has a soft spot for guests stepping straight off the airport train. Vanessa, tall with a sandy balayage and an easy, unhurried manner, is simplest to book midweek and suits a traveller who wants a calm evening rather than an occasion.

The other twenty five companions on the lineup come to Paddington on identical terms, by Tube or cab from Soho, Mayfair, Chelsea and the rest of the board.

Arrivals by rail have their own page at Paddington Station. South across Sussex Gardens, Bayswater and Lancaster Gate hold the terrace hotels and the rooms that face the park. East along Praed Street, Edgware Road keeps its conference hotels busy late. Follow the towpath north and Maida Vale begins at Little Venice. The whole postcode sits on one overview at W2.