Paddington and Bayswater: The Quiet Workhorse

Nobody puts Paddington on a list of romantic London neighbourhoods. It is, all the same, one of the two or three most important postcodes in this business, and once you understand why, a lot of how London works becomes obvious.

Why the trade lives here

Three things, none of them glamorous.

The building stock. Paddington and Bayswater are full of large white stucco terraces converted into flats, and mansion blocks with forty or fifty doors. A building where dozens of people come and go at all hours is a building where nobody is noticed. That is worth more than any amount of charm.

The transport. Paddington is a mainline station, the Heathrow Express, and four tube lines. Bayswater and Queensway sit on the Central and Circle. You can reach it from almost anywhere in London in half an hour and from an aeroplane in fifteen minutes.

The price. Central, but a fraction of Mayfair. That shows up directly in the rates.

What it is actually like

Mixed, transient and busy, which is the point. Hotels of every grade, a large international population, restaurants open late, and a permanent churn of people with suitcases. Nobody in Paddington is looking at anybody.

Bayswater immediately west is calmer and slightly smarter. Queensway is the spine and stays awake later than most of London. Lancaster Gate along the park is the quietest corner of the three.

The incall heartland

This is the practical bit. More of our incall bookings happen in Paddington, Bayswater and Edgware Road than anywhere else on the site, and the reason is the flats.

A porter building with a lift and a lot of tenants is close to ideal: unremarkable entrance, no neighbours who know each other, and a normal reason for anybody to be arriving at nine in the evening. Our post on the quietest parts of central London covers why that beats a picturesque street.

If you are arriving by train or plane

Paddington is the obvious base and frequently the cheapest sensible one.

The Heathrow Express takes fifteen minutes and runs until nearly midnight. The Elizabeth line is slower, cheaper and runs later. Either way you are in a hotel within half an hour of landing, and there are a hundred of them within ten minutes’ walk. Our guide on escorts near Heathrow covers the airport end.

One practical note if you are booking a hotel here: the ones directly on Praed Street and around the station are functional rather than pleasant. Walk five minutes into Sussex Gardens or towards Bayswater and both the rooms and the streets improve considerably for the same money.

Rates

Generally the lower half of what we list, which is not a comment on anybody. It is rent, the same as Mayfair being the upper half.

What that buys you in practice is more choice at a given budget. Around thirty escorts cover Paddington and a similar number Bayswater, so a same day booking here is far more likely to work than in a thinner area. See what a London booking costs.

The honest downside

It is not a destination. There is no reason to arrange a whole evening around Paddington unless you are already there, and the restaurants are mostly serviceable rather than good.

If dinner is part of the plan, eat in Marylebone and come back, which is a ten minute cab. If the plan is a straightforward booking with no production around it, this is the best value postcode in central London and it is not particularly close.

See Paddington and Bayswater, or ring +44 20 7846 3480.