Escorts in Berkeley Square, W1J: who is close, and how soon
'If the last meeting on the square runs over, just send me the new hour; moving a start time is routine,' says Sylvie, who answers the messages for the office. Berkeley Square is a working address before it is anything else, a garden of old plane trees ringed by offices, many of them home to the hedge funds, private equity houses and family offices that made Mayfair a centre of the investment trade, and an evening here for a visitor in town on business begins whenever the day finally lets go of him. Three of the board's women call Mayfair home, and for Berkeley Square escorts the office's quote is an hour, give or take, from the moment it confirms, longer in the evening rush, and her exact time is named in the chat; lengths are on the rates.
On the ground
Berkeley Square in practice
Landmarks on the arrival slip
By postcode, never by nameW1J 8LT, W1J 5EB, W1K 2AL, W1J 7BH, W1S 4BP.
Nearest stations
Walking timeGreen Park, 4 minutes. Bond Street, 6 minutes. Hyde Park Corner, 10 minutes.
Getting there
W1JTravel is included across Zones 1 and 2, and counted from the moment the hour is set rather than from when she leaves.
On the board
Nearest prints to Berkeley Square
Who works here
On the board in Berkeley Square
The eight prints above are a first shortlist for Berkeley Square tonight. Any of the twenty eight on the who is free page can be asked for by name instead.
Note 02
A square that works for a living
By day the square belongs to its offices. The east side is lined with large twentieth century office buildings, the west side keeps a run of Georgian houses, and behind many of the doors on both sides sits the quieter end of finance: fund managers, investment firms and the private offices of wealthy families. Mayfair became the address of choice for that trade around the turn of the century, and Berkeley Square is close to its centre of gravity. The result is a square whose busiest hours are office hours, and whose evenings are left to the few who stay on.
Note 03
Talks, lectures and viewings within reach
A working visit rarely stays inside one office, and the square is well placed for the rest of it. A few turnings east, the Royal Institution on Albemarle Street holds public lectures in the theatre where Michael Faraday once spoke, and its rooms host evening events. The auction houses on Bond Street run sales and viewings a short walk further east, the Royal Academy's galleries face Piccadilly to the south east, and the old clubs of Pall Mall lie a little further south in St James's.
Most of a conference week or a round of client meetings in this corner of town can be crossed on foot, which matters more than it sounds: an evening that does not begin with a taxi across London begins in a better mood.
Note 04
The hour the offices let go
When the working day ends, the square changes character. The traffic that circles the garden thins, the planes take over the view, and the lit windows belong to late workers and members' rooms. The trees are worth the pause: planted in 1789, they are among the oldest planes in central London, and a slow lap beneath them is as good a line as any between a day of meetings and the evening that follows. It costs nothing, needs no reservation and takes the edge off whatever was said in the last room.
Note 05
A client dinner, or a quiet one
After a full day of meetings, an evening here tends to take one of two shapes. Either there is a table with clients or colleagues, where a companion is company rather than a colleague and simply makes the evening easier to carry, or there is no table at all and the whole point is not to talk about work. Say which it is when you write: she will come dressed to suit it, and the choice between a busy dining room and a quiet corner is yours.
Mount Street, leading west from the square, has several of Mayfair's best-known dining rooms, and the lanes towards Dover Street and Albemarle Street hold more. None of them needs a car from here.
Note 06
Coming in from a day elsewhere
Not every working day is spent on the square. For a guest whose meetings were in the City or at Canary Wharf, the Elizabeth line runs direct to Bond Street, and from the ticket hall on Davies Street, Davies Street itself leads south to the square. The Jubilee line from Canary Wharf reaches Green Park instead, from where Berkeley Street runs north to the square's southern side. Green Park station is four minutes' walk from the square, Bond Street six and Hyde Park Corner ten, so neither route leaves much to walk at the end of the day.
Note 07
Streets that lead on from the square
Berkeley Square sits where several of Mayfair's working streets meet. Mount Street leads west towards Park Lane, Berkeley Street south to Piccadilly and Green Park, Davies Street north towards Oxford Street, and Hay Hill east towards Dover Street and Albemarle Street. For a visitor with meetings spread across the district it is the natural middle, and the evening can start from whichever corner the day happens to end on.
From The Roundup
Two notes worth reading for Berkeley Square
Asked most often
Berkeley Square, asked and answered
Can she join me at a working dinner with clients?
Where are lectures and talks held near the square?
Is the square worth a walk after a day of meetings?
What is the simplest route in from Canary Wharf after work?
Does a business trip change what the office needs to know?
Is Berkeley Square a sensible base for a week of meetings?
One zone either way
Next along from Berkeley Square
Last strip
Say a name and an hour
Write in with a length, a time and the zone you are staying in, and a name from the board comes back with a window attached. That is the whole of the arrangement.