Carla Giugale
My rented gentleman and I spent a cozy afternoon getting to know each other over famous art at the Met.
Sound familiar? It's a regular refrain for single ladies. Sometimes you can rustle up a friend, or find a date. But when that fails, we can now look to options like Rent A Gent, a site that sets you up with a professional platonic date. No funny business, it claims: just a dependable (and dependably attractive) companion for a few hours.
"We provide a service that's not on the market," Rent A Gent's Creative Director, Jon, told Business Insider. "It's something different and classy. These are more GQ-type guys."
Unlike the escort options you may be thinking of, the Rent A Gent service is about "empowering women"; Rent A Gent prioritizes meaningful conversation, and the service costs $200 an hour.
You may be surprised to hear it isn't the only startup of its kind either. ManServants is a similar service that lets people rent men to wait on them hand and foot, and it costs $125 an hour.
On New York's coldest day of the year so far, I took Rent A Gent for a spin. Our date: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where people flock to find beauty.