The W1J line: Berkeley Square escorts for the square where Mayfair dines late

The square after nine

Berkeley Street runs south from the square towards Piccadilly, and holds some of the busiest late dining rooms in Mayfair within a few doors of each other. Charles Street and Hay's Mews, to the west, are quieter, with small restaurants and mews houses. Bruton Street and Bruton Place lead east, and in Bruton Place stands The Guinea Grill, a pub with an inn on its site since 1423 and a grill that chooses its beef with great seriousness.

The square also has its song. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square was written in 1939 and has been recorded countless times since, though nobody has ever produced the nightingale. What the square does have is benches, lamplight and a sense of standing slightly apart from the traffic, which is enough.

The club at number 46 is for members and their guests, and a companion attends as a member's guest in the ordinary way or not at all. Most Berkeley Square evenings never need it. The restaurants are the point.

Hotels within five minutes of the square

The square has no hotel of its own, which is part of its charm, so its guests stay close. The big house on Stratton Street is three minutes south, large and busy, with a bar and its own private theatre. A row of Georgian townhouses on Half Moon Street holds a smaller one, with Manetta's Bar inside. A second house on the same street keeps the Dandy Bar, dim and theatrical. The traditional, quiet hotel on Charles Street is a four minute walk west. The arcaded landmark on Piccadilly and the Deco house on Brook Street are each within ten minutes on foot.

We name them as the addresses our companions walk into, nothing more. The house has no arrangement with any of them.

Stations

Green Park, on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, is about 4 minutes' walk down Berkeley Street. Bond Street, with the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, is around 6 minutes north via Davies Street. Neither matters much after dark: taxis pass the square all night, and the journey to any address in Zones 1 and 2 is already in the fee.

Arrival, payment and timing

Same evening companions are usually at a hotel near the square about an hour after the house's written confirmation, a little longer when Berkeley Street jams at the rush, and the chat gives the exact time once she is travelling. Late tables are the norm here, so late bookings are too; a request at eleven for company from midnight is entirely ordinary.

Confirmation is a short WhatsApp exchange: full name, hotel, room. The fee is handed to her when she arrives, in pounds sterling, and matches the reply to the pound. Plans move, so a cancellation made three or more hours ahead is free, and inside two hours half the fee applies.

Who the square attracts

People from the private offices around the square, finishing late and eating later. Visitors staying on Stratton Street who came for a conference and stayed for Mayfair. Guests who want a proper dinner, four hours at £900, with someone who can hold a conversation across three courses and a lively room. And the occasional guest who simply wants to walk under the plane trees at midnight in good company, which the square does very well.

A late supper, in order

20:00, a drink at the Dandy Bar on Half Moon Street. 20:45, the short walk up to Bruton Place and a table at The Guinea Grill, steak from the open grill and a doorman in a top hat. 22:30, once around the square beneath the trees. 23:00, Half Moon Street or Charles Street, whichever is yours. A three hour booking at £700 covers it from first drink to door.

Companions nearest the square

Luna and Angelika are both based in Mayfair, a few minutes' walk away: Luna for a guest who wants an honest verdict on the wine list, Angelika for a guest who wants live jazz somewhere afterwards. From Soho, across Regent Street, Tiffany brings a fondness for champagne and design hotels, and Jasmin is happiest on exactly the kind of late booking the square specialises in. The rest are in the portfolio.

Neighbouring pages

Mayfair surrounds the square on every side. Green Park is four minutes south, Bond Street a short walk east along Bruton Street, Piccadilly at the foot of Berkeley Street, and Grosvenor Square north west by way of Mount Street and Carlos Place.