Ten companions on the rota have a curvy build, and past that they have remarkably little in common: a baker, a boxer, a woman who reads a wine list like a sommelier, another who swims fifty lengths before breakfast. The figure word describes how she is built. How she dresses it is her own business, and all ten do it with confidence: good tailoring, one strong colour, a coat that fits.
What each of them does have is a rhythm to her week, and the desk matches guests to that rhythm faster than to anything else. Here is the week as it looks from the desk.
Rosa bakes on Sunday mornings, then opens her week that afternoon; she takes bookings Sunday to Thursday, from mid afternoon. Borough Market, the Turbine Hall and a glass under the Shard fit comfortably into three hours at £700. Long chestnut curls, 160 cm, a crate of records from Berwick Street at home, and a laugh that fills a room.
Luna works the first four nights of the week and no others, so Thursday is the last evening to ask for. A new play at the Bridge Theatre and a serious bottle fifty two floors up at Gong both need time, which is why she is usually booked for the four hour dinner date at £900.
Nancy is easy to place midweek, frequently on the night itself, and likes Wednesday warning of a weekend. Michelle keeps most evenings open, and a hotel in Knightsbridge is usually a same night booking with her. A £400 visit of ninety minutes allows a drink in the bar and time to talk after.
Milena decides fast, which makes a request at seven for the same evening realistic. For a full night she is among the most natural choices: ten hours, £1,800, with breakfast carried up in the morning. Her local bar is in South Kensington, close to the museums.
Bianka likes to choose the restaurant with you the day before; Dinner by Heston Blumenthal at the Mandarin Oriental is her idea of the right room. Thea prefers early evenings and unhurried suppers, often at Zuma, and is quick to hotels in Kensington.
Danielle starts from nine, often straight from a late screening at BFI Southbank, and suits three hours or the whole night. Molly puts her earrings on at ten, opens with a spritz at Swift on Old Compton Street and prefers to finish late. Roxi likes late arrivals and dinner among the brick and steel of Battersea Power Station, and she is glad to keep you company at a Gatwick hotel on the evening before an early flight, with the three hour airport minimum applying.
For a Saturday, write earlier than you would for a Tuesday. For several nights with the same companion, the long stay arrangement explains how the desk holds her dates across a visit. Nancy and Thea also appear among the blondes, and Danielle, Milena and Roxi on the raven haired list.
Choose from this list by name, or write two lines about the evening, and the desk offers whoever is on shift.
