The W1J line: Green Park escorts for the quiet, park side of Piccadilly

Four hotels on the park's edges

The arcaded hotel at the eastern corner is the obvious landmark, its colonnade running along Piccadilly and its terrace facing the grass. Afternoon tea in the Palm Court books out weeks ahead and asks for a jacket and tie. A few minutes west, a smaller house wears a living wall of plants on its facade and keeps rooms that look straight over the park. Further west again, an art deco building of 1927 stands on Piccadilly facing the park, with a ballroom to match and a name that points at Park Lane instead. At the western point, the hotel at number One Hamilton Place overlooks Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch.

None of the four has any tie to the house. Companions arrive at them the way any evening visitor does, through the front door, at the time agreed, asking for you by name.

Stations within a few minutes

Green Park station opens onto the corner of the park, about a minute from the Piccadilly gate, served by the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines. Hyde Park Corner, on the Piccadilly line, is around 6 minutes' walk along Constitution Hill or Piccadilly. Because every hotel above lies inside Zone 1, travel is part of the fee and never a separate line.

How a booking reaches the park

Most same evening requests reach a hotel on the park about an hour after written confirmation; Piccadilly at the rush or a busy Friday can add to that, and the house writes her expected time into the chat as she sets off. You write with the date, time, duration and hotel; the house answers with a companion and a figure; before she leaves, we check your full name and room number over WhatsApp. That check is done once and concerns the evening itself, nothing more.

Payment is simple. The figure in the written reply is the figure she receives, in person, at the start of the evening. Overnights, events and travel dates are best written a day or more ahead so her diary can be cleared around them.

The park after dark

The main paths through Green Park stay lamplit after dark, and the lawns between them go quiet early. Near the palace end, the Canada Memorial, a low granite sculpture washed by a thin sheet of water, is a good place to stop for a minute. In spring the grass fills with daffodils, in summer the striped deckchairs come out for hire, and by October the leaves cover the Broad Walk, which is when the walk to dinner is at its best.

Who books here

Green Park bookings lean towards the considered. Guests at the arcaded hotel marking a promotion or a sale of the company, who want dinner with someone who dresses for the room. Visitors on a first trip to London, who walk down to the palace in the afternoon and book two hours, £500, for the walk back. Residents of the flats around Arlington Street and St James's Place, who prefer a companion who arrives without anyone noticing.

An evening along the park

18:30, a walk down the Broad Walk from the Piccadilly gate towards the palace and back, twenty minutes at an easy pace. 19:00, a drink in the Rivoli Bar under the arcade, all gilt and polished wood. 19:45, dinner next door at The Wolseley, the grand café with the vaulted ceiling and the brisk waiters. 21:30, a few minutes' walk to the house under the living wall or back east along the colonnade. A three hour booking at £700 fits it precisely.

Companions who arrive first

No companion lists Green Park as her home district. Samanta, based in Mayfair, is the closest in manner and in distance, and the right choice for the arcaded hotel. From Belgravia, a short ride past the palace, Lea is petite, auburn and happiest with a theatre evening in view, and Patricia paints in watercolour and walks at a pace that suits a park. Sonya, from Knightsbridge, suits the early evening booking that ends before ten.

Around Green Park

Piccadilly forms the northern edge. St James's begins across the Queen's Walk. Hyde Park Corner and Park Lane lie to the west, and Berkeley Square is five minutes north through the Mayfair side streets.