Escorts in Covent Garden: ring the bell by the Piazza, WC2E

The Piazza is the old heart, with St Paul's church at its western end, its portico facing the cobbles, the market building in the middle and the London Transport Museum tucked into the corner. South of it, Southampton Street and Bedford Street drop down to the Strand, where the forecourt at WC2R 0EZ, Simpson's and the Adelphi line the way east to Aldwych. Below the Strand the streets of the Adelphi fall towards Victoria Embankment Gardens and the river.

Somerset House is the surprise. Its great courtyard hosts an ice rink in winter and open air concerts and films in summer, the river terrace opens on warm evenings, and the Courtauld Gallery fills the north wing. For a first evening it is one of the least crowded handsome places in central London.

WC2R 0EZ stands on its own short road off the Strand, with the American Bar upstairs for a first drink. WC2B 4BZ curves round the corner at the eastern end, calm and modern inside. WC2E 7AW faces Bow Street, WC2H 9HB keeps a townhouse feel on Monmouth Street, a smaller house is a quieter choice on Bedford Street, and WC2N 4HX is a short walk west.

Each is named only as a landmark, and London Babes has no link with any of them. Apartments above the market and private flats towards Aldwych are visited on the same footing.

Covent Garden station, on the Piccadilly line, is about a minute from the Piazza, though its lifts queue on busy nights. Leicester Square, with the Northern and Piccadilly lines, is roughly 4 minutes west, and Charing Cross, with the Bakerloo and Northern lines and the mainline trains south, is about 6 minutes down to the Strand. Temple, on the Embankment, is the handiest stop for Somerset House.

Over WhatsApp or Telegram give the desk four things: who, where, when and for how long. An evening on the Somerset House rink or at a courtyard concert is worth mentioning a few hours ahead, so she comes dressed for the cold or the open air. Your name, hotel and room are checked a single time, and the desk confirms the plan in writing in the same chat.

A same evening visit to a Covent Garden hotel is best planned at an hour's ride from the desk's yes, more when the theatres let out. Three hours of notice cancels a standard booking at no cost, while cancelling inside two hours carries half the fare. On the night the fare passes to her in person, straight after she arrives.

Seven, a drink in the American Bar at WC2R 0EZ, the pianist already at the keys. Half past eight, dinner at Rules on Maiden Lane, all red plush and game in season. Ten, a turn around the Somerset House courtyard, skates on in December or a film on the big screen in July. Eleven, the walk out onto Waterloo Bridge for the view both ways along the river, then back up the Strand to the hotel.

That is a dinner date, four hours for £1,300. A drink and the bridge fit into two hours at £750, and one hour begins at £400.

Guests at the Strand hotels who came for work around Aldwych and the law courts and would like the evening to feel nothing like the day. Visitors in town for a weekend who have already seen the shows and want the market and the river instead. Residents of the flats above the old market who prefer an evening that never needs a taxi. They like a night that can be walked from start to finish, with a companion who enjoys the city as much as the table.

Karolina knows her opera and will point out the stage door on Bow Street without being asked. Nancy laughs easily, loves sushi and never minds a cold walk if it ends somewhere warm. Tina, the shortest girl on the route and one of the most assured, has an opinion on every coat along the Strand.

Living a few streets from the Piazza, they are often the first to arrive. Every other girl on the girls page comes to WC2E on the same fares.

West across Charing Cross Road lies the West End and the lights of Leicester Square. Soho begins a few minutes to the north west, and Whitehall leads from Trafalgar Square down to Westminster.