Green Park escorts, W1J and SW1A, at the quiet edge of Piccadilly

Four hotels on the park's edges

The Ritz is the obvious landmark, its arcade 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, The Athenaeum wears a living wall of plants on its facade and keeps rooms that look straight over the park. Further west again, the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, despite the name, stands on Piccadilly facing the park, an art deco building from 1927 with a ballroom to match. At the western point, the InterContinental London Park Lane overlooks Hyde Park Corner and Wellington Arch.

None of the four is a partner of 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 30 to 45 minutes after written confirmation. 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.

The deposit is simple. A standard booking at a hotel or a flat is confirmed with 25 percent by bank transfer. Overnights, events and travel bookings are confirmed with 50 percent, and the travel component of that is non refundable. It protects the companion's evening and your reservation equally.

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 Ritz 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 at The Ritz, 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 Athenaeum or back to The Ritz. 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 Ritz. 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.