A West End night out, W1 and WC2, with a companion beside you

Nobody draws the borders of the West End in quite the same way, and that is part of its charm. For us it means the grand curve of Regent Street, the neon of Piccadilly Circus, the theatres of Shaftesbury Avenue and the Haymarket, the cinemas of Leicester Square, the red lanterns of Chinatown on Gerrard Street and the fountains of Trafalgar Square below the National Gallery. Soho and Covent Garden sit inside it like two villages inside a city, each with a page of its own.

It is also the part of London that stays awake latest. Kitchens keep serving after the shows, bars fill just as other districts are closing, and the night buses leave Trafalgar Square in every direction. For a companion, that means there is always somewhere open and somewhere quiet, often on the same street.

There is no single West End hotel, but a handful sit right in the glow. Hotel Café Royal on Regent Street, with the gilded mirrors of its Oscar Wilde Lounge. The Londoner on Leicester Square, tall and polished above the cinemas. W London, also on Leicester Square, sleek and dark inside. Ham Yard Hotel, tucked into its own courtyard near Piccadilly Circus. The Savoy, a short walk down the Strand once the curtain falls.

Our companions walk into all of them as your guest. We mention the names to help you picture the stop; there is no partnership with any hotel, and serviced apartments or private addresses nearby are visited in exactly the same way.

Piccadilly Circus is the closest station, 2 minutes on foot, served by Bakerloo and Piccadilly line trains. For the theatres around Leicester Square, the station of that name, with its Northern and Piccadilly lines, is 3 minutes away. A 6 minute walk east brings you to Covent Garden station and more of the Piccadilly line. After the last trains, the buses from Trafalgar Square and a steady line of black cabs take over.

Theatre nights run to a clock, so we plan around yours. If you want company for the performance, book a few hours ahead and let the desk know the theatre and the curtain time; she will meet you in the foyer or a bar nearby. If you want someone after the show, message during the interval, and once the desk confirms, a companion is usually with you in 35 to 40 minutes, about as long as it takes to leave the auditorium and find a table.

Verification is the same as anywhere on the route: full name, hotel and room, checked once on WhatsApp. To confirm a standard booking the desk asks for a 25 percent transfer; an event or overnight asks for half, with the travel component of that half non-refundable. On the night itself the remainder is paid in cash or by transfer.

Half past six, an early glass in the art deco bar beneath Brasserie Zédel, just off Piccadilly Circus. Half past seven, your seats at the Theatre Royal Haymarket as the gilded auditorium settles into silence. At the interval, a shared tub of ice cream and a verdict on the first act. Afterwards, a short walk to Hawksmoor on Air Street for a late steak, then a taxi or a stroll back to your hotel as the shopfronts of Regent Street go dark one by one.

Priced as a dinner date, four hours, the whole evening is £1,300. A shorter show fits into three hours at £1,050, and an hour after the curtain begins at £400.

Visitors who have finally got tickets to the show everyone recommended and would rather not sit beside an empty seat. Business travellers staying near Piccadilly who want a lively dinner after a day of meetings. Guests at the Leicester Square hotels who simply like being at the centre of things. What they tend to want is a companion who enjoys a performance, talks easily in the interval and knows which kitchens are still open at midnight.

No companion lives right on Shaftesbury Avenue, but six live a few minutes away. From Soho, Jasmin dances salsa and appreciates a well made cocktail, Molly brings big dark waves and a taste for house music, and Tiffany is never far from a camera. From Covent Garden, Karolina knows her opera, Nancy laughs easily and loves sushi, and Tina has a designer's eye for what everyone in the stalls is wearing.

Every other woman on the girls page travels to the West End on the same fares, the ride included.

The quarter spills into its neighbours in every direction. Mayfair begins on the far side of Regent Street, Westminster is a walk down Whitehall from Trafalgar Square, and Marylebone sits just north of Oxford Circus. Each has its own hotels and its own rhythm after dark.