The W1H line: Marble Arch escorts for an Oxford Street afternoon turned evening

From the Selfridges doors to the arch

On foot, the store entrance on Oxford Street is about five minutes from the arch, past Orchard Street and the top of Park Street. With bags, a taxi is quicker: the ranks outside the store are rarely empty, and every hotel below is a two minute ride. If the afternoon also takes in the smaller houses further east, Bond Street has its own page.

The practical advice is short. Finish by six, send the booking message from the taxi, and give the hour between your arrival and her knock to a shower and a fresh shirt.

Which W1H hotel suits a shopping stay

The largest of them faces the arch itself and is busy at every hour, which makes any arrival entirely unremarkable. A Georgian crescent on Great Cumberland Place holds another, quieter and a little more private. On Portman Square, two more face each other across the garden, the first classic, the second modern and known for its Japanese restaurant. A smaller house with a Japanese interior at the top of Great Cumberland Place and a chain hotel on Bryanston Street complete the cluster.

No hotel on this list has an agreement of any kind with the house. They are simply where guests stay, and a companion walks in as your visitor would.

Supper within ten minutes on foot

North of the arch the streets thin out and the tables get smaller. Seymour Place and George Street hold neighbourhood restaurants where a conversation for two never has to compete with the next table, and the Portman Square hotels have their own dining rooms for a guest who would rather not walk at all. For something grander, Mount Street is about ten minutes south down Park Street.

Say in the message whether a table is booked already and what sort of supper you picture. If it is not, the companion will happily suggest one when the reply comes back.

An afternoon into evening, by the hour

15:00, the store, the food hall first and the accessories floor after. 17:30, the booking message from the last counter: companion, hour, length, hotel. 17:45, a taxi to the hotel with the bags, the reply arriving on the way. 19:00, she arrives in the lobby at the time the chat gave. 19:20, a walk up Great Cumberland Place to a table on Seymour Place. 21:30, back past the arch, lit against the dark of the park. 22:00, the room. Three hours from her arrival, £700.

Getting there and away

Marble Arch station, on the Central line, is about a minute from the arch and the hotel facing it. Bond Street, with the Central, Jubilee and Elizabeth lines, is roughly eight minutes east and handy for the Portman Square hotels. Edgware Road, around six minutes north, adds the Bakerloo and Circle lines. Everything here is Zone 1, so travel is included.

A companion usually reaches a W1H hotel about an hour after the written reply, and longer when Oxford Street and the Edgware Road are at their evening worst. Your full name and room number go to the house on WhatsApp before she sets out, and the fee is paid to her in person when she arrives.

Who ends the day here

Visitors in London for a few days of shopping who chose W1H for the short walk to Oxford Street. Guests whose party has flown home early and who would like the last evening of the trip in good company. Travellers on a stopover who spent the afternoon in the store and fly again in the morning, and who book a shorter evening, an hour at £250 or ninety minutes at £400, rather than a long one.

The nearest companions

Nobody lists Marble Arch as home, but Marylebone is a few minutes north. Liana, slim with straight chestnut hair, suits an unhurried weeknight supper, and Rosa, with her long curls, brings warmth to a first meeting. From Paddington, a short ride west, Vanessa is calm, curious and an easy first booking, and Nora likes a day of warning. From Mayfair, Samanta crosses Park Street in minutes.

Beyond the arch

Hyde Park opens across the junction. Park Lane begins here and runs south towards Hyde Park Corner. Grosvenor Square lies a short walk south east along North Audley Street.