The hotel introduction: a companion at your door, arranged in writing

Name the hotel and the date, give the hour, and say how long you would like. A name from the introductions helps, though it is not required: describe the evening and Octavia proposes one companion, with a sentence on why she thinks so. Her reply names the companion, the fee in pounds and the minute of arrival. Nothing is settled until you answer yes.

Before your companion leaves, Octavia asks once which room you are in and whose name the booking carries; at a private house, the street and the door. That is the only check. It sits in the same thread as everything else and goes nowhere further. The booking page sets out the sequence step by step.

The hotels in this corner of London stand close together, which is why arrivals here are so rarely late. Brown's occupies a row of townhouses on Albemarle Street, two minutes from Green Park station. The Ritz fronts Piccadilly with its long arcade. Dukes and The Stafford hide in the quiet courts of St James's, each reached by a narrow turning most visitors walk straight past. The Athenaeum and The May Fair Hotel lie a few minutes west. From any one of them to any other is a short walk under a good umbrella.

She arrives as a guest would, crossing the lobby without hurry, taking the lift and knocking once. A first drink downstairs is easily arranged; simply mention it. The panelled bar at Brown's or the American Bar at The Stafford suits a first drink, and the evening can move upstairs or stay where it is, as the conversation decides. The notebook has a longer piece on Brown's of Albemarle Street, and another on meeting first in the American Bar.

A hotel is not a condition. A serviced apartment on Dover Street, a mews off Charles Street or a townhouse in Belgravia is visited in exactly the same manner, with the street and the door confirmed once in writing. Her travel costs nothing extra inside Zones 1 and 2. Further out, Octavia prices the cab both ways and quotes fee and fare as one sum, in writing, for your approval.

One hour at £600 is the shortest introduction the house arranges; there is no half hour, and nothing is priced on top. It allows a drink, a real conversation and a courteous goodbye. Ninety minutes at £900 lets the conversation settle into its own pace. Two hours at £1,100 leaves room for a short supper nearby, and guests who suspect they will enjoy themselves often begin there rather than extend later. The rates page prints each length beside its figure.

Extending is simple while she is with you, provided her diary allows it. Ask her, or send Octavia a line, and the added time is confirmed in the thread before it begins.

Samanta lives in Mayfair and moves through a well-designed lobby as if she had drawn it; she is often at a door in W1 within the hour. Angelika, also a Mayfair resident, prefers an evening that starts before eight. Luna is quick, bold and excellent company late. Milena is decisive, the right match for a guest who knows precisely what he wants from ninety minutes. Tiffany collects hotel interiors with a silent-shutter camera and will notice what the architect intended. For the grander lobbies, the statuesque companions of the list are a natural choice.