The W1S line: Bond Street escorts for the evening after the auction rooms

What the street is for

The auction houses set the tone. Sotheby's has occupied its New Bond Street rooms since 1917, and Bonhams sits further up at number 101. Both open their pre-sale viewings to anyone who walks in, which makes an afternoon among the lots a surprisingly good first meeting. Behind the street, Cork Street keeps its galleries, the Royal Arcade connects Old Bond Street with Albemarle Street, and South Molton Street, narrow and pedestrian, leads up towards the station. Halfway along, Churchill and Roosevelt share a bronze bench, the sculpture called Allies, photographed by nearly everyone who passes.

After six the character changes. Staff lock the doors, the guards step inside, and the people still walking are on their way somewhere. That is the moment most Bond Street bookings begin.

Hotels a few minutes from the windows

Bond Street has no grand hotel on the street itself, so its guests stay just off it. The Deco house on Brook Street is four minutes west. A second stands on Conduit Street at the corner, with the Polo Bar on its ground floor for a first drink and live piano on several evenings a week. A house that has taken guests on Albemarle Street since 1837 sits at the Royal Arcade end. West of the station, the Deco building on Brown Hart Gardens is a short walk from the top of South Molton Street.

Companions visit all four as a guest's invited visitor. The house has no understanding with any of these hotels, and would not claim one. Private residences and serviced apartments around Hanover Square and Maddox Street are visited under the same terms.

Stations, with walking minutes

Bond Street station, on the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, is about 2 minutes from the top of New Bond Street. Oxford Circus, Bakerloo, Central and Victoria, is roughly 5 minutes east. Green Park is around 7 minutes from the Piccadilly end of Old Bond Street.

The Elizabeth line matters here. A guest landing at Heathrow can ride straight to Bond Street without changing trains, check in on Brook Street, and be ready for the evening well before dinner.

Arrival and confirmation

Book the same evening and a companion is normally at a W1S hotel about an hour after written confirmation, later if Oxford Street is backing up at the rush. Write with the day, the hour, the length and the address. The reply confirms who and how much; then comes the one check that matters, your full name and room number. The figure named in the reply is paid to her in person when she arrives, and nothing else changes hands. The booking page walks through each step.

Who books around Bond Street

Shoppers first. A guest with a fitting on Savile Row or an appointment at a jeweller, who wants a second opinion and pleasant company for the hours between. Collectors in town for a sale week, who spend the day with catalogues and the evening wanting conversation that has nothing to do with estimates. Business visitors from the offices around Hanover Square, who book at seven and are back at their hotel by ten.

From viewing room to nightcap

16:15, the viewing rooms at Sotheby's, free to enter, lots on the walls, nobody obliged to bid. 17:15, a glass at the Polo Bar on Conduit Street. 18:30, an early table at Sketch on Conduit Street, whose dining rooms are theatrical enough to carry any silence, though there will not be one. 20:15, the walk down Bond Street past the lit windows, then Brook Street or Albemarle Street. Four hours from viewing to hotel door: the dinner date, £900.

Companions near W1S

No companion files Bond Street as her home district. The nearest are the Mayfair three, and Luna in particular, who treats an evening on this street as permission to be candid about wine. From Marylebone, just across Oxford Street, Rosa loves galleries and vinyl, and Liana suits a quiet weeknight after a long day of appointments. Tina, based in Covent Garden, sketches fashion for pleasure and has a sharp eye for a window display.

Around the street

Bond Street runs through the middle of Mayfair. Berkeley Square is a short walk west along Bruton Street, Grosvenor Square a few minutes beyond Brook Street, and the southern end of Old Bond Street opens onto Piccadilly.