Holland Park, W11 and W14, in and out of the opera season
Outcall only · by appointmentEach summer a canopy is raised over the ruined wall of a Jacobean house in the middle of a public park, and for about ten weeks W11 has an opera season. Then it comes down, the peacocks have the place to themselves again, and the district returns to what it is the other forty-two weeks of the year: large houses, quiet streets, and a park that most of London has never walked through.
We attend both versions. Companions come to residences and to the hotels around the edges, from £250 an hour, with the journey inside the fee. The ladder is short, and the women are on The Hang.
Doors we arrive at
- W11 4ULHolland Park
- W14 8NLKensington
- W2 4DUNotting Hill
- W8 4PTKensington
Nearest stations
- Holland ParkCentral1 min walk
- Notting Hill GateCentral, Circle, District7 min walk
- Shepherd's BushCentral8 min walk
Nearest to Holland Park
Nobody on the wall keeps Holland Park as her own district, so these 6 are the nearest to it, ordered by how few streets lie between her door and yours. Any of the 28 in the hang can be asked for by name instead.
In season, June to August
Performances under the canopy begin in the early evening and finish while it is still light, which makes for an unusual shape of booking. A four hour dinner date at £900 that starts at six will cover the picnic on the grass beforehand, the performance, and a table afterwards with the sky still going. Tickets are yours to arrange, as host. Tell Tamsin the date as soon as you have them, because these are among the few evenings of the year when the whole of W11 wants a table at the same hour.
Out of season, which is most of the year
The other nine months are the better secret. The park has a formal garden, a wooded northern half where the peacocks live, and gates that close at dusk. Ten minutes south on Holland Park Road stands a house a Victorian painter built for himself, with a domed Arab hall tiled in blue and gold on the ground floor; it closes in the late afternoon, which is why one of our companions takes afternoon bookings here rather than evening ones.
Residences first, hotels second
Most bookings in W11 and W14 go to private houses, and the houses here are large enough that the arrival is entirely unremarkable. Where a hotel is wanted: W11 4UL, at the Shepherd’s Bush end of the avenue. W2 4DU, over in Notting Hill. W8 4PT, on Kensington High Street. W14 8NL, at the southern edge by the halls.
None is connected to this house in any way. We name them for bearings, and for nothing else.
Three stations, and the Central line
Holland Park station is 1 minute from the avenue, on the Central line. Notting Hill Gate is 7 minutes east, Central, Circle and District. Shepherd's Bush is 8 minutes west, Central again. The Central line is the spine here and it runs straight into the West End in about twelve minutes, which is why guests staying in W11 rarely feel far out. Your companion comes by car in any case, and the fare is inside the fee.
Arriving at a private address
The avenue and the streets off it are wide, well lit and quiet, and a car stopping outside a house at nine in the evening attracts no attention whatever. Before she leaves, Tamsin confirms the street, the house number and the name at the door if there is one. Your companion arrives on foot from the car, carrying nothing, and leaves the same way at the hour agreed. No staff member is told anything and no photograph is taken anywhere.
Who books out here
Residents, principally. People who live in the big villas and would rather not spend an hour getting into town and an hour getting back. After them, guests over for the season who have taken a house for six weeks, and visitors staying near Olympia who discover that the pleasantest part of west London is fifteen minutes north of their hotel. The requests run long: three hours and four hour dinner dates rather than single ones.
The two who work this side
Milena is twenty-five and 175 cm, very dark, quieter than she looks from across a room, and genuinely interested in design and tiled interiors, which makes the Holland Park Road house an obvious afternoon with her. Nora is twenty-six, honey blonde and hazel eyed, runs and swims, and is happiest with trees in the window; she takes afternoon and early evening bookings readily.
Danielle and Thea come across from the Kensington side in under ten minutes, and Vanessa and Laura from Paddington in about fifteen.
Next to Holland Park
W8 and the High Street begin seven minutes down Church Street. Knightsbridge is twenty minutes east along Kensington Road, or twelve by car at a quiet hour. Chelsea lies south beyond Earl's Court, about fifteen minutes by car. Notting Hill and Shepherd's Bush are the immediate neighbours either side and are attended at the same rates.
Two pages worth reading for Holland Park
Before you write
Yes. Book the seats yourself, as host, and give Tamsin the date early; the season is short and the whole district books its tables on the same nights. A four hour dinner date at £900 covers the picnic before, the performance and a table afterwards, which is the shape most guests want.
Not at all, and it costs the same £250 it would in Mayfair. Two companions work this side of London and come in under ten minutes from Kensington. What is true is that most bookings out here run longer, because the district rewards an unhurried evening rather than a quick one.
The park, until dusk, with the formal garden at the southern end and the woods at the northern one. The painter's house on Holland Park Road, which closes in the late afternoon. And the restaurants along the avenue, which are quieter in winter and better for it. Your companion will have a plan before she arrives.
W11 4UL at the Shepherd’s Bush end of the avenue is the closest of the four. W8 4PT, ten minutes south, faces Kensington Gardens rather than this park. No hotel anywhere is a partner of ours and none ever has been.
By car to the street, then on foot to the door, carrying nothing. Tamsin confirms the street, the number and the name at the bell before she sets out. She arrives as any dinner guest would and leaves at the hour that was agreed, without anything needing to be said about it.