I absolutely love the Christmas lights – the moment they’re switched on, something in me just lifts. The city feels softer, kinder, and somehow more hopeful. The twinkling strings across the streets, the glowing shop windows, the giant trees in the squares – they all wrap London in this shimmering blanket of colour. It’s impossible for me not to feel really happy and wonderfully Christmas‑y when they’re out in full force.
Because I’m one of the escorts in London, I’m often out and about at all hours. I can be heading to a hotel at dawn, slipping into a cab late at night, or walking through the West End just as the afternoon turns blue and chilly. It means I get to see the lights at every time of day – glowing faintly against a pale winter sky, blazing after dark, reflected in rain‑slick pavements and the black windows of parked cars. As I cross the city from one client to another, they’re always there in the background: little constellations dangling over Oxford Street, delicate white arches down Regent Street, and those unexpectedly cosy pockets of fairy lights tucked into side streets and alleyways.
Other Cities, Other Charms
I’ve worked in other cities too – Paris and Amsterdam, for example – and they each have their own kind of magic. Paris feels like a postcard come to life, with its elegant avenues and golden street lamps. Amsterdam has those beautiful canals, where the lights ripple and stretch across the water like long, liquid ribbons. I enjoyed all of that, and there’s definitely a romance to both places. But even with all that charm, I still think the London lights outdo them. There’s something bolder about London at Christmas: it’s louder, brighter, less restrained. The decorations feel almost theatrical, as if the whole city is putting on a show.
The Texan’s Opinion
I started asking my clients what they thought, just to see if I was being biased. One evening, I was with a client from Texas, a tall, easygoing man with a big laugh and a fondness for colourful shirts. We were in his hotel room, the curtains slightly open so a wash of multicoloured light spilt across the ceiling. I pointed out the view and asked if he agreed with me about the London lights.
“Sure, honey,” he said, giving me that slow, amused smile Americans do so well. “The lights here are freakin’ awesome. Now, could you just roll over a little bit? Ah, just keep doin’ that.”
Clearly, he was rather more focused on the view in front of him than the one outside the window, but I decided to count his opinion anyway. After all, he’d travelled across the Atlantic, and if the first thing he noticed – after me, of course – was how impressive the lights were, that had to mean something.
A Corporate Christmas in a Grand Hotel
Still, one opinion wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more evidence, more little testimonies to back up my theory that London does Christmas better than anywhere else. So when another client invited me to his corporate Christmas do, I used the opportunity for a bit more informal research.
The party itself was an extravagant affair, held in one of the city’s top hotels. The sort of place with polished marble floors, towering floral arrangements, and staff who seem to glide rather than walk. The ballroom was draped in rich fabrics, all deep reds and golds, and the tables glittered with crystal glasses and tiny tealights. A live band played polished covers of Christmas classics while colleagues flirted, gossiped, and pretended not to notice who was drinking a bit too much at the free bar.
My client had travelled in for the night from Budapest – a handsome man with a tired smile, clearly relieved to escape spreadsheets and board meetings for a few hours. As we discreetly left our table and slipped out of the ballroom, I decided to ask for his view as well.
“So,” I said to him as we made our way towards the stairwell, “what do you reckon to our Christmas lights? Aren’t they the best?”
Undressing on the Stairs
He was already slightly distracted, and I can’t say I blame him. As we climbed the stairs, I began to undress in that casual, teasing way that comes so naturally when you’ve done this as often as I have. First, it was the jewellery – the earrings that caught the candlelight, the bracelet that tinkled softly as I walked. Then the shoes, carried in one hand as my heels clicked more softly on the steps. I let a strap slide down my shoulder, feeling his eyes on me rather than on the ornate decorations around us.
“They’re brilliant,” he said after a moment, his voice a little unsteady, “so very, very beautiful.”
To be fair, he may not have been referring strictly to the lights outside. At the exact moment he said it, I had just slipped out of my sequinned top, which fluttered over my arm like a fallen piece of tinsel. Perhaps it isn’t entirely fair to count that as an unbiased opinion. Still, I decided to be generous and let it join my mental collection of compliments for London at Christmas.
A Room with a Glittering View
When we finally reached the room upstairs – a quietly luxurious space with heavy curtains, a wide bed, and the faint smell of expensive polish and perfume – I immediately noticed that the curtains hadn’t been fully closed. A gap between them revealed a slice of the city, glittering and alive. I could see the Christmas lights from where I stood: clusters of colour, strings of white, the glow of window displays on the streets below. It cheered me up more than I’d expected. Something is reassuring about knowing that even as the most intimate, private moments unfold behind closed doors, the city outside keeps on sparkling.
I don’t think my client noticed any of that, to be honest. By that point, his attention was captured by a very different sight entirely, one he clearly found far more interesting than a few festive bulbs.
Escorts, Traditions, and Inner Glow
And that, in a way, is the funny thing about my work at this time of year. While everyone else is talking about presents and office parties and awkward family dinners, we, the escorts in London, have our own little traditions. We learn which streets have the prettiest displays, which bridges offer the best views, and which hotel bars feel most magical once the decorations go up. We get sentimental about the lights – not just because they’re beautiful, but because they’re part of the backdrop to so many secret encounters, whispered confessions, and fleeting connections.
It’s not exactly a reason to hire us, admittedly. No one’s going to book an evening just because we can tell you which corner of Mayfair has the nicest wreaths. But if you asked my clients, they’d probably tell you that the glow isn’t only outside. They’d say that I gave them a really shining service, one that left them with their own inner glow long after the evening ended.
So yes, the London Christmas lights are special to me. They watch over me as I go from one booking to the next, wrapping my nights in colour and my memories in a soft, festive haze. And in their reflection, I see not just a city dressed up for the season, but all the moments – tender, playful, outrageous, and sweet – that make my work feel like part of that great, glittering show.
