Departures: a companion timed to the train, the runway or the road south
SW1 is a departures board with houses on it. The Gatwick Express leaves from Victoria every half hour, the trains south run to the coast from the same sheds, and the helipad at Battersea is seven minutes from the City by air. This page is for evenings shaped by one of those timetables rather than by a dinner reservation.
Two rules govern all of them. Airport bookings run for three hours or longer, with her travelling time counted inside those hours, and anything beyond Zones 1 and 2 carries the fare both ways, quoted as one sum before you agree.
The half hour to Gatwick
For a late landing at Gatwick, a room near the terminus is almost always the better plan than a hotel by the runway. You are in Victoria thirty minutes after clearing the platform, your companion is a handful of streets away rather than an hour out along the motorway, and the evening starts at a civilised hour instead of a punishing one. The reverse works as well for a morning flight: a night that ends at five and a train at six is an ordinary arrangement here rather than an exotic one.
Heathrow, and the hotels by the runway
Heathrow bookings are arranged constantly and always run to a three hour minimum, which includes the journey each way. That is not a premium, it is arithmetic: an hour at a terminal hotel would be forty minutes of road for twenty minutes of company. Tell Rosie the terminal, the hotel and the hour you land, and she will give you an honest arrival window rather than an optimistic one. If your schedule allows a hotel in town instead, say so, because it is usually the better evening.
The road south, and the seven minute transfer
Brighton is an hour from Victoria and makes a good day rather than a good evening, lunch by the sea and a train back before dark. Windsor, Richmond and the river houses beyond Zone 2 are arranged the same way, with the fare quoted both ways in advance. The heliport at Chelsea Bridge puts the City within a few minutes by air, and a companion meeting you on either side of that flight is a booking Rosie has taken more than once.
Trips that last longer than a day
A companion travelling with you for several days is arranged as a single sum rather than an hourly count, and the weekend figure is quoted once Rosie knows the dates, the destination and roughly what the days look like. Everything you would expect to cover for a guest travelling at your invitation, the seat, the room and the meals, sits with the host; her company is what the fee is for. Longer stays that remain in London belong instead on the season in SW1 page.
Four plates who travel well
Vanessa is 25, 173cm and entirely unruffled by a delayed departure board. Angelika is toned and athletic, good on her feet and better company on a long day than most. Stacy at 176cm packs light and dresses correctly for wherever she has landed. Liana is 28 and quietly excellent at the hours in a lounge that nobody plans for. All four keep passports current; give Rosie plenty of notice for anything with a border in it.
Delays, and the evening that moves
Aircraft are late and trains are cancelled, and a booking built around either is built with that in mind. Send Rosie the new time the moment you have it. Where three hours or more remain before the agreed hour, the booking simply moves at no cost. Inside two hours, half the figure applies, which is the same courtesy every other commission works to, and there is a quarter of an hour of grace on top for a slow queue at a taxi rank.
What to put in the first message
The flight or train number if you have one, the hotel or terminal, the hour you expect to be free and how long you would like. That is enough for Rosie to price it as a single figure and name a companion, usually within minutes. If the plan is still loose, send what you have; an outline is easier to work with than a delay. The rates page carries the full ladder if you would rather do the arithmetic yourself first.
Faces for departures
Chosen for this kind of evening from what each of them enjoys. Every face in the edit may still be asked for.
Departures, explained
4 answers. Tap a question to open it; anything missing, ask Rosie directly.
Three hours or more for Heathrow and Gatwick, with her travelling time counted inside those hours. Bookings in town keep the usual one hour minimum.
At whichever you name. Most guests prefer to clear the terminal alone and have her arrive at the hotel, which keeps the arrangement entirely private.
A few days for somewhere within an hour of town, and longer for anything that involves a border or more than two nights, since a whole diary has to be cleared.
The journey, the room and the table are the host's, as they would be for any invited guest. Her fee covers her time and her company, and is settled with her in person.
Other ways to spend the evening
- 01Around the terminus: Victoria's hotels, from grand to practical, in honest order5 min readFrom The Goring's garden to the railway hotel on the platforms, the hotels around Victoria station ranked for late arrivals, dawn trains to Gatwick and an easy evening.
- 02Hush as an ingredient: the corner tables of Belgravia, chosen for a low-voiced dinner5 min readLa Poule au Pot by candlelight, Pétrus on Kinnerton Street, The Goring's dining room and Hunan on Pimlico Road: SW1 rooms where conversation stays at the table.
Describe the evening in a single line.
A dinner, a gala, a quiet night in the suite: describe it to Rosie and she will name whoever suits it best.