[08]From £250Desk openFloor 08 · Choose
Auburn and red: three companions, one side of town
RAREST COLOUR ON THE LIST. Three women, three shades: Lea wears true auburn waves, Luna's hair reads red under any lobby light, and Patricia's sits closer to auburn brown. Two live in Belgravia and one in Mayfair, and all three build their best evenings in the West End, in W1 and WC2, most often from hotels around Covent Garden, Soho and Piccadilly.
From those addresses the West End hotels are short journeys, usually 30 to 45 minutes from confirmation. All three work to the same ladder, from £250 for an hour to £1,800 for a night.
Guest list 03
Auburn and red, on the list
Lea, the pre-theatre booking
Lea is 161 cm with hazel eyes and a talent for changing a plan for the better. She follows interior design closely and spends weekends at a potter's wheel, so she clocks how a suite is lit before she looks at the view. Meet at six in the bar at St Martins Lane, walk to a half past seven curtain, then supper. Midweek, before a show, is when she is simplest to book.
Luna, Monday to Thursday
Luna, 171 cm, is independent and quick, a serious student of wine who shoots on an old film camera and holds a view on every new opening in Theatreland. Hotel Café Royal on Regent Street is her starting point, and she likes to arrive early and watch the bar fill. Book her midweek for two or three hours, with the first glass downstairs.
Patricia, the quiet evening
Patricia, 172 cm, is the gentlest of the three. She paints small watercolours, knows film noir inside out and loses whole afternoons in bookshops, Hatchards on Piccadilly above all. Tea or a glass of red in your hotel lounge, then upstairs with a novel she picked out for you. Two or three unhurried hours suit her best.
Picking between the three
A show and a table: Lea. A lively bar and a strong opinion: Luna. A lounge, a book and a low voice: Patricia. For the first two, a dinner date of four hours at £900 covers the curtain or the meal and the walk back to the room. Patricia rarely needs that much planning, and a same day message often works.
A West End evening, on the clock
Most auburn bookings follow a similar clock. Six: a drink in the hotel bar. Half past seven: a curtain, a table or a gallery open late. Ten or eleven: the walk back along Piccadilly or through Covent Garden, then a last drink in the room. Three hours at £700 covers the lighter version, and the four hour dinner date covers all of it. After midnight nothing changes on the board.
Put her name first, then the hotel, the start time and the length. Open to either Lea or Luna? Say so, and the reply names whichever of them is free.
Holding the evening
Send the name, the hotel and the time. The desk confirms your full name and room over WhatsApp, then asks for 25 percent by bank transfer to hold a standard hotel evening. The remainder is paid in pounds at the door, or transferred beforehand. Cancel three hours or more before the start and nothing is owed.
Where else they appear
Lea is also filed as petite, Luna as curvaceous, and Patricia as both slim and statuesque. Lea and Luna are in their early twenties, Patricia in her late twenties. Prefer a different colour? The raven haired list runs to six names, and blondes to four.
More ways to choose 11