Queensway escorts in W2, on the street that eats late

The restaurants are the draw. Queensway has been known for decades for its roast duck and dim sum rooms, where tables turn quickly and a party of two rarely waits long. Around them sit grill houses, noodle bars and cafés that keep their lights burning long after the West End has emptied, and even midweek the pavement is still busy at 23:00. The crowd is mixed and easy: families finishing a late meal, students, hotel guests in search of something better than room service, and residents walking down from the mansion flats of Porchester Gardens.

At the northern end, The Whiteley fills the block between Queensway and Porchester Gardens. The department store opened in 1911 and was once among the largest shops in London; its restored stone front now wraps a hotel, apartments and shops. Halfway along, the Porchester Centre keeps its Art Deco Turkish baths, and opposite the southern end, Black Lion Gate leads into Kensington Gardens.

The largest address sits at the park corner. Hilton London Hyde Park stands where Queensway meets the Bayswater Road, its front rooms looking into Kensington Gardens, and it receives more of our Queensway bookings than any other building. Just east, The Grand Royale London Hyde Park holds the next corner, at Inverness Terrace. Up at the northern end, the hotel and serviced residences inside The Whiteley bring a newer, more polished kind of stay to the street.

Between them the side streets are full of small terrace hotels and short let flats, all visited on the same footing. No hotel here is in partnership with us; a companion simply comes as someone's guest, and on a street this lively the receptionists hardly glance up.

Queensway station, Central line, is 1 minute from the park end of the street. About 3 minutes further north, roughly halfway up, Bayswater station serves the Circle and District lines. Together they reach almost anywhere: the Central line gets to Marble Arch and Oxford Circus in minutes, and the Circle line is a single stop from Paddington.

Queensway is Zone 1, so no booking here ever carries a travel supplement.

Queensway bookings tend to run late, and the desk is set up for exactly that. A message sent at 22:30 gets read and answered inside 10 to 15 minutes, just like one sent at noon. Include the companion, the hour, the length and the address, then confirm your full name with the room or flat number. As a rule she is with you in under sixty minutes.

Who books on Queensway? Mostly visitors spending a week at the park corner hotels, delegates escaping the Edgware Road conference floors for one evening, and residents of the flats above the shops who would rather not cross town for dinner. For starts after dark, Molly is the natural choice: her diary opens at 10pm and runs on happily past midnight. Nancy reaches Queensway from Covent Garden in about 25 minutes, though her weekends fill early, and Roxi, setting out from Pimlico, likes evenings with a proper dinner at their centre.

21:30, she arrives at your hotel. 21:45, a walk up Queensway while every restaurant is still full. 22:00, roast duck and greens at a crowded table, shared without ceremony. 23:00, dessert at one of the late cafés, then a slow loop back along Inverness Terrace. 23:30, two hours complete at £500, at the hotel door. Choose three hours, £700, and there is time for a nightcap before the evening ends.

None of the lineup lives on Queensway itself, though the Paddington three are only 5 minutes away by cab. Vanessa enjoys a relaxed weeknight table and asks good questions about whatever you order. Laura is the one for a request made at short notice. Nora can turn an unplanned late dinner into a small celebration.

Bayswater wraps around the street with its squares and terraces. Notting Hill is one Central line stop west, or a 10 minute walk along Moscow Road and past Pembridge Square. Lancaster Gate is one stop east, and Hyde Park begins across the road.