Desk openReel 04 · AreasEC2 · EC3 · EC4
The City of London still follows the street plan of the medieval town: Cheapside, Poultry, Threadneedle Street and a web of courts and passages that only make sense on foot. Around them stand the Guildhall, the livery halls and a crop of towers with nicknames, and between them some of the finest hotels in the capital. This page covers those hotels, the stations, the arrival times and the companions who come in, whether the night is spent in a banking hall or thirty floors up.
The hotels, stations and postcodes behind a booking in City of London.
Named as landmarks only. No hotel is a partner of ours.
City of London lies within Zones 1 and 2, so her journey adds nothing to what you pay.
Hotel, name and room are checked once, then kept at the desk. See booking.
A shortlist for this side of the river, drawn differently on every district page. Any companion on the reel will make the trip; ask for the one you have in mind.
22 more companions travel here too · all 28 frames on one page: Models
The old City and the new stand shoulder to shoulder. St Paul's, the Bank of England and the Guildhall share the streets with the Gherkin, the Cheesegrater and the glass slabs of Bishopsgate. Between them, alleys and courtyards follow the lines of their medieval predecessors, and under Leadenhall Market's painted Victorian roof the bars are packed at six and deserted by nine.
For a guest, that emptiness is the appeal. Taxis move freely, restaurants have tables, and a hotel lobby at ten on a Tuesday is close to silent. Weekends are quieter still: much of the City simply closes on Saturday and Sunday, and its hotels become private worlds.
There are still places to go. At the top of 20 Fenchurch Street, the Sky Garden holds three storeys of planting under glass, with bars and restaurants, free to enter if you book a slot ahead. On the northern edge, the Barbican runs concerts and films most evenings, and its lakeside terrace is one of the calmest places in London to meet before dinner.
Most people who book here are in town for work. Bankers and lawyers on a week of meetings, consultants between client sites, visitors to the insurance market, delegates at a City conference. They book late, often after a dinner that ran long, and they value one quality above the others: a companion who knows how to enter a serious hotel without drawing a second glance.
The Ned fills the former Midland Bank headquarters on Poultry, a Lutyens building whose vast banking hall is now a room full of restaurants. Andaz London Liverpool Street occupies the Victorian Great Eastern Hotel beside the station. Pan Pacific London sits in a newer tower off Bishopsgate, calm and light-filled. The Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square looks towards the Tower from the City's eastern edge, and Montcalm Royal London House sits on Finsbury Square to the north, with a rooftop bar.
Guests stay in them; we have no link with any of them beyond that. Serviced apartments are common in the City too, around the Barbican and along Bishopsgate, and a companion visits those on exactly the same terms.
Bank station, sixty seconds from the City's core, brings together the Central and Northern lines, the shuttle from Waterloo and the DLR. St Paul's, on the Central line, is five minutes west. Liverpool Street, seven minutes north east, adds the Elizabeth line and trains to Stansted and East Anglia.
She comes by cab along the Embankment or up through Holborn. With the streets empty after eight, the drive from the West End is often faster than guests expect. Expect a companion at your door within the hour on most evenings, and nothing extra for her travel: the whole City lies in Zone 1.
City hotels are used to late visitors and handle them without fuss. She comes through the main entrance, never a side door, lets the desk know she has arrived, and then either waits in the bar until you come down or comes up to the room you have named. If the hotel has its own routine for guests' visitors, she follows it.
Twenty to ten on a Wednesday. A client dinner near Bank has just broken up. A message reaches the desk: two hours, a room at The Ned, as soon as possible. The reply names a companion, confirms £500 and gives an arrival at half past ten. The guest has time for a drink in the hall downstairs. She arrives on time, dressed for a City hotel, and the evening moves at whatever pace suits someone who has been talking all day.
For guests who want company at the dinner itself, there is the dinner booking: four hours, £900. Share where you are dining and how formal it will be, and the desk proposes someone at ease in that setting.
Covent Garden is the nearest home district to the City on our roster. Tina, Karolina and Nancy live there, fifteen minutes' drive along the river. Tiffany, Jasmin and Molly come from Soho. The rest are all in the gallery.
Several City streets have closer detail on their own pages: Bank and Monument for the old financial core, Liverpool Street for the station and Bishopsgate, Aldgate for the eastern edge, and Shoreditch just north for rooftops and late bars. Over the river, Southwark is a short walk across the Millennium Bridge.
Not at all. The desk never closes, and late bookings in the City are ordinary. Message as the dinner ends and she normally reaches you inside an hour.
Yes. The City is very quiet at weekends, which suits many guests. Everything works in the same way, and the rates stay the same.
Yes. Choose the dinner booking, £900 for four hours. Describe the setting and the desk suggests a companion who fits it.
The Ned is a minute from Bank station. Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square and Pan Pacific London are about ten minutes east, and Andaz sits beside Liverpool Street.
Yes, all of EC2, EC3 and EC4, from Blackfriars to Aldgate, with travel included because every part of it is in Zone 1.
Yes, as long as you hold a booked slot, since entry is by timed ticket. At short notice, a hotel bar is simpler, and she will meet you in whichever you choose.
Next door to City of London, on foot or a single stop away.
7 more districts on both banks: Areas
Name your hotel or street in City of London and the hour that suits you. The cab over costs you nothing extra.