The Roster · Paddington · W2
Vanessa, testing scents in the Burlington Arcade
Sandy balayage, a sweet smile and a fragrance chosen for every season.
Available todayMidweek, unhurried evenings
- Age
- 25
- Height
- 173 cm · 5 ft 8 in
- Hair
- long sandy brown, balayage
- Eyes
- hazel
- Figure
- slim
- Languages
- English
- Home district
- Paddington · W2
The full set
Four photographs, all of Vanessa herself: glamour and lifestyle shots, some with the face softened, none with nudity. Tap any frame for the larger print. How we photograph.
Vanessa, in brief
Vanessa arrives unhurried, and the unhurriedness spreads to everyone near her. Slim and 173 cm, with sandy brown hair grown long in a sun-streaked balayage and hazel eyes that are warm and curious, she looks like the last day of a good summer. She dresses with coastal understatement: a white shirt, wide linen trousers, a fine gold chain and a scent that changes with the season. Nobody has ever seen her run for a bus.
Sweet, curious and relaxed, she is the companion for an evening without pressure. Mid twenties. She speaks English with an easy warmth and is always learning a new language, although she admits none is ready for dinner yet. Fragrance collecting is her passion; there are shelves of bottles at home, and she remembers where each was bought. Cycling is how she sees London, slowly, along quiet back streets, finding corners most people drive past, and she will happily draw you a route to one.
On Piccadilly her favourite detour is Penhaligon's in the Burlington Arcade, where the perfumer's old-fashioned bottles gleam beneath the arcade's glass roof and each scent comes with a story. She tests a few, describes them with delight and suggests one for you. The staff there already know her by name, which she finds faintly embarrassing. Dinner in Mayfair, or a nightcap at a hotel bar, lies a short walk on.
Paddington is home. She prefers the middle of the week and an easy pace, with the odd Sunday when the weather is kind; her corner of W1 is Piccadilly, and one note to Cressida is all it takes.
The hours, priced
The Society's figures apply to Vanessa as to everyone on the roster: stated in pounds, given to her yourself at the door, and with her journey inside Zones 1 and 2 already folded in.
| Hour | Length | Fee | Suits | Enquire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 | One hourThe introduction | £600 | Long enough for a glass at the bar and a proper conversation, and a gentle way to begin. | Enquire |
| 23:00 | Ninety minutesThe nightcap | £900 | The hour with room left over for a second glass and an unhurried goodbye. | Enquire |
| 21:00 | Two hoursThe long drink | £1,100 | An evening in, or an opening two streets away, without anyone glancing at a watch. | Enquire |
| 22:00 | Three hoursThe second act | £1,500 | Supper somewhere small, then the remainder of the evening at a pace you set together. | Enquire |
| 20:00 | Four hoursThe table for two | £1,800 | Shaped around a single good table, from the first course to the last car home. | Enquire |
| 00:00 | Ten hoursUntil morning | £3,000 | From the first glass of the evening to breakfast in the suite. Ask a day ahead where you can. | Enquire |
| Fri | Two nights or moreThe weekend away | from £6,000 | In London or further afield, with one figure for the whole stay once the dates are fixed. | Enquire |
Past Zone 2, airports and changes of plan: Rates
Vanessa, after dark
Vanessa's evenings are gentle and unhurried. She meets you at seven, having cycled most of the way and changed on arrival, smiling. A drink in a quiet bar comes first, where she asks about the fragrance you are wearing, if any, and suggests another if not. Dinner is leisurely, somewhere she can practise her newest language on the waiter, even if only to say thank you. She talks about the perfumers of Grasse she hopes to visit, the canal from Paddington to Little Venice, a word she learned yesterday that has no English equivalent. Curious about everything, she is never intrusive. She will, without fail, remember your scent the next time. The evening feels easy and sweet, like a long holiday afternoon.
Vanessa answers
Something with vetiver. It is fresh, a little smoky, and it never shouts across the table. On a warm night, a little neroli on top.
Along the Regent's Canal from Paddington to Camden, early on a Sunday. Houseboats, herons and almost no traffic, then coffee by the lock.
Because a country sounds different once you can hear the jokes. I am still waiting to hear most of them.
Remarks in the book
The page is still blankNo remarks have been entered for Vanessa yet. When a guest writes something worth keeping, and she agrees, it appears here beneath the guest's first name, with the month set beside it. Nothing on this page is ever composed by the Society.
Entered only after Cressida has read them · signed with a first name and the month only · withdrawn whenever Vanessa asks
A line for Vanessa
Vanessa is already named. Fill in the brackets, send it, and Cressida answers every line in a single reply.
Good evening Cressida. May I book Vanessa for [length] on [date], from [time]? I shall be at [hotel name], and will pass on the room number once you confirm.
Also based in Paddington
Laura
Nora
Violetta
Angelika
From After Dark Notes
- 6 min readAround the old embassy square: Grosvenor Square's hotels, weighed after darkThe square once called Little America now deals in hotels. The Biltmore, The Beaumont, The Twenty Two and their neighbours, judged by lobby, bar and lift for an evening in W1K.
- 6 min readSide doors, quiet lifts and unlisted floors: the hidden plan of a grand London hotelGrand hotels are built with more than one door, lifts that answer to a key and floors the buttons leave out. What each one is for, and why the Society still prefers the front door.
Send word about Vanessa
Mention Vanessa by name and the evening you have in mind. If she is spoken for, Cressida will say so plainly and suggest someone close in spirit.