Kensington, W8: palace gardens, the High Street and quiet company

The heart of Kensington is the High Street, with the sweeping roof of the Design Museum towards Holland Park and grand old department store buildings along its length. North of it, Kensington Church Street climbs past antique shops towards Notting Hill. South, Kensington Square is one of the oldest squares in London, and the quiet streets around Edwardes Square and Phillimore Gardens are lined with tall family houses. Across the road, Kensington Gardens stretches to the Round Pond and the palace.

It is a residential district first. Evenings here are about good restaurants, a walk in the park before it closes and the privacy of a well kept home.

Holland Park, at the western end, adds its own summer ritual. Opera Holland Park performs beneath a canopy among the trees, peacocks wander the lawns, and the Kyoto Garden with its waterfall and koi is a calm place to meet before the gates close for the evening.

The Royal Garden Hotel on Kensington High Street, right beside Kensington Gardens, where the higher floors look across the park towards the city skyline. The Milestone Hotel on Kensington Court, a red brick Victorian mansion facing the gardens, with a cosy panelled bar. The Baglioni Hotel on Hyde Park Gate marks the eastern edge, where Kensington meets South Kensington.

We mention them as landmarks only, with no commercial tie to any of them. Private homes and serviced apartments are just as welcome, and visited with the same discretion.

High Street Kensington station, Circle and District lines, sits about a minute from the shops and hotels. Walk 8 minutes up Kensington Church Street for Notting Hill Gate, where the Central line joins them. Gloucester Road, with Piccadilly line trains as well, is roughly 9 minutes to the south east.

On WhatsApp or Telegram, name the companion, your address or hotel, when you would like to start and for how long. Your full name, together with the room or house details, is confirmed a single time, and then one quarter of the fare, sent by bank transfer, secures a standard visit to a hotel or home. Overnights and events need half the fare up front, the travel share of it non-refundable.

Kensington is one of the further stops on our map, though still in Zone 1, and after confirmation she typically arrives in about 50 minutes, longer only when the High Street traffic is heavy at the weekend. Her travel is always part of the fare.

Seven, a walk through Kensington Gardens as the summer light fades over the Round Pond. Eight, dinner at Clarke's on Kensington Church Street, a calm room with seasonal cooking. Ten, a drink at the Churchill Arms, its windows glowing behind the flowers. Half past ten, a short stroll back to The Milestone or the Royal Garden, or home to your flat off the High Street.

It all fits within four hours, the dinner date fare of £1,300. A quieter night indoors might run to ninety minutes for £600, or two hours for £750, and a full overnight comes to £2,400.

Residents of the garden squares and mansion flats who enjoy entertaining at home. Visitors staying at the park side hotels on longer trips, combining business with a few days of museums and walks. Travellers who like Kensington because it is calm, elegant and a little away from the crowds of the West End. They value a companion who is easy company over dinner and perfectly at home in a private house.

No companion lives right in W8, but two groups are close. In South Kensington, just south, live Danielle, who adores classic films and poetry, Milena, a tall and direct tennis player, and Thea, a keen cyclist with green eyes. Across the park in Paddington are Laura, Nora and Vanessa.

Everyone on our girls page comes to Kensington on the same fares, with the journey included.

South of the High Street lies South Kensington and its museums, with Chelsea beyond. East along the park, the road leads to Knightsbridge, and north across Kensington Gardens is Paddington.