The First Message That Gets a Quick Reply

Four pieces of information cover almost every booking, whichever format you actually have in mind for the evening.

Something like, hi, I would like to book Sonya for tonight around ten, at my hotel near Schiphol, for about two hours, covers everything needed in one line, the who, the where, the when and the length, and it usually comes back with a confirmed arrival window within a few minutes.

There is no need to add anything beyond that unless the address has a detail worth flagging, a floor, a buzzer, an entrance a first-time visitor would not guess on their own. A layover hotel near the airport is a good example of exactly that, a single extra word naming the terminal or the shuttle stop saves a follow-up question later in the exchange.

Not knowing exactly who you want is just as easy to write. Something like, hi, I am looking for relaxed company this evening, around nine, at my apartment, any recommendation, gives us enough to suggest two or three names who genuinely match that mood, perhaps someone among our blonde companions, instead of just reading off whoever is free at that moment.

This version is just as fast to answer as one with a name already in it, it simply moves the choosing step into the reply instead of before it.

A booking for a couple only needs one extra line making that clear. Something like, hi, my partner and I would like to book for the two of us tonight, around eight, at our hotel, gives us what we need to put forward a companion who genuinely enjoys couple bookings, rather than just the next available name.

The rest of the message stays every bit as brief as a message written for one person, the extra line naming both of you is the only real addition on top of the usual who, where and when.

A message with no address, no rough time and no sense of how long the evening should run usually needs a follow-up question before anything can move forward, which simply adds a step neither of you needs. None of this is a strict form, it is just worth including the four basics somewhere in that first line rather than leaving them to be asked about afterwards.

Long, detailed paragraphs are just as unnecessary in the other direction. A message stretched across several screens tends to bury the details that actually matter under context nobody needs before the first reply, so the plain, short version usually serves you better than a more elaborate one.

Once the first message has done its job, the rest of the conversation stays just as plain. A confirmation, a floor number sent once you have checked in, an occasional question, none of it needs more than a line or two, and there is no benefit in dressing any of it up.

The booking page walks through this whole exchange from the first message to the knock, whatever style you choose to write in, and the first hour is always priced from €180 per hour.

Some guests reach for slightly different words without realising it makes no difference, asking for a companion, a date, a visit, an evening in. None of that vocabulary changes what actually happens once the four basics are in the message, and there is no house term you need to learn before writing anything at all.

Write it the way you would naturally describe the evening to a friend, and the reply will meet you exactly where that message left off, rather than expecting a particular phrase before it takes the request seriously. Plain language has always worked better here than anything more formal or rehearsed.

This holds even for guests writing in a second language. A message with a slightly unusual phrase or two is read for its meaning, not marked down for its grammar, and any genuine confusion is simply cleared up with a quick follow-up question rather than a guess.