High Street Kensington escorts in W8, from the station arcade to a late table

At the western end, close to the southern gate of Holland Park, the Design Museum occupies the old Commonwealth Institute, its sweeping copper roof one of the most unusual shapes on any London high street. Moving east, the shops grow larger and busier until the junction with Kensington Church Street, marked by the spire of St Mary Abbots, the tallest church spire in London. Beyond it the Barkers building leads on towards the Royal Garden Hotel and the gates of Kensington Gardens.

Kensington Church Street climbs north from the spire towards Notting Hill Gate, lined with antique dealers whose windows hold porcelain, clocks and fine furniture. The shops close in the early evening, and their lit, empty windows make it one of the quietly beautiful walks in west London after dark. South of the high street, Wrights Lane and Earls Court Road lead down towards the terraces of SW5.

Three hotels account for most high street bookings. Each is an address companions know well; none has a commercial relationship with the agency, and none is asked to arrange anything.

The Royal Garden Hotel, at the eastern end of the high street, is the obvious one: large, efficient and beside the park, with a lobby where a visitor goes entirely unremarked. The Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington sits on Wrights Lane just south of the station, a big, practical hotel much used by business travellers. The Milestone Hotel on Kensington Court, a few minutes further east, is the small and polished alternative.

Flats above the shops and in the mansion blocks behind them are visited on the same terms. For these, the desk needs the building and flat number, and whether there is a porter.

The Circle and District lines stop at High Street Kensington station, roughly 1 minute from the shops, and its arcade delivers passengers straight into the crowd. Notting Hill Gate, on the Central, Circle and District lines, is about 8 minutes' walk north, uphill past the antique shops of Kensington Church Street.

However a companion travels to you from either direction, the trip is covered, because W8 sits well inside Zones 1 and 2.

Many guests here book at the end of a shopping day, and the sensible pattern is a message around five for a start at seven. That leaves time for the desk to reply, usually within 10 to 15 minutes, for the booking to be matched to your name and room or flat, and for her to dress for dinner rather than for the afternoon. Same evening requests normally reach you within the hour; weekend evenings, when the high street traffic crawls, reward a little more notice.

Money on this page is the same as on every page of the catalogue. To hold a standard hotel or residence booking, 25 percent travels ahead by bank transfer, with the rest paid on arrival, cash or transfer as you prefer. Overnights, events and travel bookings are held at 50 percent, the travel component non-refundable. Call off a booking three or more hours before it starts and nothing is owed.

Weekend visitors at the Royal Garden, in London for the shops and the park. Business travellers at the Wrights Lane hotels, finishing late and wanting company for a proper dinner rather than room service. Design enthusiasts who spent the afternoon under the copper roof and want to talk it over. Residents of the flats behind the high street, for whom a companion who can walk in without fuss is the whole point.

Seven: meet at the Design Museum end of the street and walk east as the shop lights go out. Half past seven: dinner at The Ivy Kensington Brasserie near the eastern end of the high street, a warm, busy room with a long bar. Half past nine: a slow climb up Kensington Church Street past the lit antique windows, then back down to the Royal Garden for a last drink, or home.

Three hours covers it, £700. A shorter version, dinner and nothing more, fits two hours at £500, and the four hour dinner date at £900 allows a nightcap without anyone watching the clock.

The high street has no resident companions of its own. From South Kensington, Danielle, Milena and Thea are a few minutes north by taxi. By way of Notting Hill Gate, the Paddington companions Laura, Nora and Vanessa are nearly as close. The full gallery is available for W8, travel included.

Kensington covers the palace, the gardens and the squares to the east and south. West, beyond the Design Museum, is Holland Park. North up the hill lies Notting Hill, and south down Earls Court Road is Earls Court.