South Kensington, SW7: museum lates, concert nights and company

Exhibition Road links it all, a wide shared street running from the station up past the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the V&A to Hyde Park. Around it, the white stucco of Onslow Square and the red brick of Queen's Gate give the area its elegant residential calm. The Royal Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial sit at the top, facing each other across Kensington Gore, and the Serpentine is a short walk into the park.

At night the quarter is calm but never lonely. Concerts end, restaurants fill, and the streets around Harrington Road and Bute Street have the busy, friendly feel of a small town.

Summer is its high season. The Proms fill the Royal Albert Hall night after night from July into September, the garden courtyard of the V&A becomes the coolest place to sit on a warm evening, and the walk home through Kensington Gardens stays light until well after nine.

The Ampersand Hotel on Harrington Road, bright and playful, with rooms decorated after the sciences and arts of the museums next door. The Baglioni Hotel on Hyde Park Gate, looking out over Kensington Gardens, all dark wood and gold. The Kensington on Queen's Gate, a row of white townhouses with a drawing room bar and open fires.

These are landmarks, not partners: there is no arrangement between London Babes and any hotel. Our companions arrive as your guest at hotels, serviced apartments and the mansion flats of SW7 alike.

The Circle, District and Piccadilly lines all meet at South Kensington station, a minute from the heart of the district, and a long pedestrian subway runs from its ticket hall straight to the museums. Gloucester Road, 6 minutes west on foot, serves the same three lines.

Choose a companion, then let the desk know your hotel or address, when to begin and the number of hours. Identity is confirmed once over WhatsApp, full name and room, and a standard visit is held when 25 percent reaches us by bank transfer. For overnights, events or a trip together the deposit is 50 percent, and its travel element is non-refundable.

South Kensington is about 45 minutes from confirmation on a typical night. If you are booking around a concert or a museum late, give the desk a few hours' notice so the timing works. On the evening, the balance is paid in cash or by transfer.

Seven, a quick drink at The Queen's Arms in Queen's Gate Mews, a pub hidden among cobbled mews houses. Half past seven, your seats at the Royal Albert Hall beneath its vast domed roof. Ten, the crowd spills out and you walk down Exhibition Road past the floodlit museums. Half past ten, a late supper at Daquise on Thurloe Street, a cosy room that has fed museum goers for generations, before the short walk back to your hotel.

From drink to supper, this is the dinner date booking of four hours, £1,300. Company only after the final encore suits two hours at £750, and £2,400 turns it into an overnight.

Visitors who come for the museums and concerts and would like to share them with someone curious and well read. Guests on longer stays in serviced apartments, in London for work or research, who enjoy dinner out after a long day. Residents of the garden squares who would rather have a relaxed evening at home. They want warmth and good conversation more than glamour, though they never mind a little of both.

Danielle has long black hair and a stillness that suits a gallery; she loves classic cinema, poetry and museums. Milena, tall and direct, plays tennis, makes ceramics and always has an espresso close to hand. Thea, with caramel blonde hair and green eyes, cycles everywhere, hikes when she can and has a weakness for Japanese food.

Living a few streets from the museums, they are usually the first to arrive. All our other companions travel to SW7 on the same fares.

Brompton Road runs east to Knightsbridge, and a walk north through the park brings you to Kensington. South along Sydney Street lies Chelsea, and Belgravia is a short ride beyond Sloane Square.