Blographies
Take a peek at the people behind the posts on the Smith Travel Blog…
MEET TAMARA
What do you do at Smith? Online skivvy
Favourite hotel Ca’s Xorc in Mallorca – it’s where I got married
Favourite destinations New York, Ibiza, Florence, Dordogne, Las Vegas
Best ever holiday? Driving down the coast road from San Fran to LA in a gold, open-top Trans Am
Essential travel kit BlackBerry
I wish I was… drinking chilled rosé in the sun by the beach in Ibiza
Love… wine
Hate… the Tube
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Tamara…
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MEET ANTHONY
What do you do at Smith? Online tinkering; offline tea-making
Favourite hotel Amankora in Bhutan – never been, probably never will, but I love the five-lodge mountain-pilgrimage concept
Favourite destinations New York, Florence, New Zealand, Valencia, Edinburgh
Best ever holiday? Fiji: utterly relaxing, the best (and cheapest) steak in the world, and a national drink that makes your mouth numb (in the best possible way)
Essential travel kit Smartphone with a proper qwerty keyboard – none of this fancy-schmancy touch-screennonsense
I wish I was… a little bit taller
Love… unnecessarily complicated food
Hate… ungrammatical signage
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Anthony…
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MEET LUCY
What do you do at Smith? Online rambling and offline roaming; destination detective work; textual pedantry and other bookish pursuits
Favourite hotels Noir d’Ivoire in Marrakech for a glam getaway; Les Sardines aux Yeux Bleus for low-key rural relaxation in the South of France. Top of my ‘must-go-next’ list is Blackberry Farm
Favourite destinations Tuscany, Paris, the Cotswolds, Languedoc/Vaucluse, Dubai, the Smoky Mountains
Best ever holidays Across Goa on an Enfield; over the pre-Pyrenees on a horse; tracking tigers in Kerala
Essential travel kit Notebook, camera, Steve, sarongs that double as scarves, naughty knickers and impractical shoes
I wish I was… better at answering questions like this
Love… whiffy cheeses; hearty Rhône reds
Hate… rubbish coffee; badly made martinis; the Creation Museum; turbulence
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Lucy…
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MEET JULIET
What do you do at Smith? Edit reviews, curate the Smith & Friend’s self-catering collection, and wax lyrical about what gives great hotels their wow factor
Favourite hotels For romance: Dar Ahlam, or, with a baby in tow, Chewton Glen. City stay: for cutting-edge cool, the Drake; for classic chic, JK Place
Favourite destinations Essaouira, Wales, Cape Town
Best ever holiday It was actually work, but staying at Gossel Ridding with my friend and our babies was pretty special. And I always have great times with friends and family in New York.
Essential travel kit Travel-sized Ren products; great dresses as they’re an instant outfit, and easy to dress up or down
I wish I was… allowed to drive those golf-buggy-style cars with flashing lights in airports. I love that ‘meep meep’ noise they make
Love… surprises – from finding treats in your room (candy at the Greenwich Hotel) to stumbling across bohemian hangouts such as Tulip Café in Prague
Hate… shops that leave their doors wide open with the air-con/heating on full blast
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Juliet…
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MEET CAROLINE
What do you do at Smith? Wide-ranging editorial assisting
Favourite hotel Cavo Tagoo in Mykonos for its white-and-blue Greek supremacy. I mean to have it
Favourite destinations Anywhere in the USA, especially San Francisco/California generally, Lake District – the UK’s finest – and Brazil
Best ever holiday? Spending the summer in Rome with my sister, staying in an apartment on the Spanish Steps in the same building where John Keats died
Essential travel kit A blanket, Eight Hour Cream, sunglasses and some classical literature
I wish I was… Princess Jasmine
Love… Afternoon tea (preferably taken on the lawn of a stately home), gelato, mascara, goose-down duvets, the sun, the sea and silly designer handbags I can’t afford
Hate… Hill starts and oversized dogs
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MEET KATE
What do you do at Smith? Online/offline word polishing and not a little truffling for travel tweets
Favourite hotels I aspire to staying at Lion Sands Ivory Lodge in South Africa or Rayavadee in Thailand – in the wilds but never far from civilisation is how I like it
Favourite destinations Canada (the mountains); Cote d’Azur (the Med); Stockholm (the men)
Best ever holiday? Vietnam – it’s ridiculously photogenic
Essential travel kit Dermalogica sun cream and a pack of cards
I wish I was… starring in a musical
Love… good hotel breakfasts: a laid-back affair with fresh everything
Hate… aeroplane ankles
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MEET SARAH
What do you do at Smith? Nurture wanderlust by writing about the world’s most beguiling hotels and destinations.
Favourite hotel I once stayed in a beautiful San Francisco hotel which had creamy hot chocolate on tap and a supply of cookies in the lobby. I’ll do anything for cookies.
Favourite destinations Sardinia, Copenhagen, New York, Ibiza, Greece. Anywhere I’m guaranteed delicious eats, quality shopping, red wine and relaxation.
Best ever holiday? Travelling around Europe with my best friend. We spent all our money on Italian underwear and then lived off baguettes and tomatoes, with a few cocktails in between.
Essential travel kit A like-minded soul, some classic reads, clothes that wear their creases well, flat shoes, perfume and a coral lip gloss to add zing to a sleep-deprived, sun-tanned face.
I wish I was… One of those girls who can leave the house with a bag the size of a banana. I could fit one of our hotels in my handbag.
Love… The smell of sea salt and sun lotion on tanned holiday skin, foraging for fashion in vintage markets, sipping chilled wine from a carafe.
Hate… Organised tours, unsatisfactory restaurant dinners, severe sunburn, boarding the homeward-bound plane.
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MEET SIMON
What do you do at Smith? Run the new Asia-Pacific office based in Melbourne. AKA a little bit of everything, only down under
Favourite hotel The Prince in St Kilda – top restaurant, great bars, cool spa, on the beach
Favourite destinations The Top End, Paris, Burma, New York, Lebanon, Shanghai, Venice
Best-ever holiday Cambodia in 1997. Only eight of us at Angkor Wat
Essential travel kit My tan leather Gurkha holdall. All I ever take
I wish I was… on horseback on the pampas of Argentina
Love… the Australian sky
Hate… automated call centres. Go Smith Travel Team!
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Simon…
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MEET TONI
What do you do at Smith? Keep you up to date on the latest travel fashion trends
And elsewhere? Write, edit and style fashion features. Drink champagne. Fall over in high heels
Favourite label This season, I’m coveting Gucci’s retro 1970s style: fitted Hawaiian shirts and mega-platforms teamed with lashings of lip gloss and honey-coloured hair
Favourite hotel Soho House New York for luxe city living; Villa le Scale in Capri for total romance
Favourite destinations New York for shopping and brunch, Ibiza for partying, Langkawi in Malaysia for chilling
Best ever holiday? My honeymoon: driving a vintage Alfa Romeo from Florence to Capri, followed by a surprise weekend in NYC
Essential travel kit Eye mask; earplugs; my biggest, darkest sunglasses; Sudoku book (I’m a secret geek)
I wish I was… dancing on a table in Studio54
Love… Bucks fizz for breakfast, jasmine, ridiculous shoes, planning (see, I really am a geek!)
Hate… Early check-outs, early nights, ‘activity wear‘, cobbled streets (refer to ‘falling over in high heels’)
Pssst… come back soon to read an anonymous hotel review by Toni
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MEET SOPHIE
What do you do at Smith? Aid and abet the editorial team, as Juliet’s original co-editor
And elsewhere? I’m restaurants editor for the Harper’s Bazaar Going Out Guide
Favourite hotel West Stoke House in West Sussex. I love the Bridge room, and the cooking is both impressive and darned good to eat. I haven’t been to The Olde Bell Inn in Berkshire yet, but I know I’d love it
Favourite destinations Norfolk, Yorkshire, Cornwall
Best ever holiday? The best is always the last, so my spring visits to San Francisco and Valencia, with a diversion to Ibiza on a whim. I went running in Golden Gate Park and the Turia Gardens; when I wasn’t running, I was eating
Essential travel kit Birkenstocks/walking boots, money, and string – I never use it at home but always seem to need it up a hill
I wish I was… a few muscle-straining steps from the top of a mountain
Love… brasseries, tapas bars, pubs, beach shacks, independent bookshops
Hate… breakfast in bed
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Sophie…
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MEET JIM
What do you do at Smith? Anything above 1,000 metres or below freezing: at room temperature or sea level, I start to melt
Favourite hotels My favourite places to stay are all luxury rental properties and ski lodges, including Chalets de Philippe in Chamonix, Chalet Eugenia in Klosters, and Pencalenick House in Cornwall
Favourite destinations Osaka in spring, Stockholm in summer, Chamonix in autumn and St Petersburg in winter
Best ever holiday? International Talk Like a Pirate Day
Essential travel kit A keen sense of direction and a vague sense of time
I wish I was… … Sir Francis Younghusband
Love… Swiss Airlines; the ice-cool 1965 Citroën DS; the Northern Lights; willow-flavoured vodka
Hate… Britain’s exclusion from the fantastic network of pan-European sleeper trains
Pssst… read an anonymous hotel review by Jim…
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MEET MARY
What do you do at Smith? Race around the world, giving boutique hotels the official thumbs-up or thumbs-down
Favourite hotel Condesa DF in Mexico City – so stylish, even the resident dog matches the decor – and Mandranova Farmhouse for Sylvia and Giuseppe’s generosity and infectious enthusiasm
Favourite destinations South coast of Sicily, Istanbul, Paris, NYC, London, Pacific coast of Mexico… God I’m such a commitment-phobe…
Best ever holiday? Without a doubt, the ones I’ve taken with silly friends - most recently crashing bikes on the Isle of Mull, hanging ten in Malibu, and getting hopelessly lost in Barbados
Essential travel kit A black fold-up tote-bag thingy called Baggalini - saves my life when I over-shop on the road
I wish I was… fluently multi-lingual
Love… sampling local beers around the world and sharing them with people who love what they do
Hate… bits in my orange juice and airport security
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MEET RUFUS
What do you do at Smith? Edit reviews, send lucky couples away to glamorous hotels, occasionally dip a toe into those luxury waters myself…
Favourite hotel The Haymarket Hotel, London. Cool in a non try-hard way
Favourite destinations Reykjavik, Montpellier, Berlin, the Peak District, Sicily
Best ever holiday? Corsica and Sardinia – we gawped at giant yachts and learnt more about the reproductive habits of wild pigs than any human should ever know
Essential travel kit Sunglasses, battered old sunhat, brand-new Henning Mankell thriller
I wish I was… sitting on a sun terrace in Provence with a cold G&T, toying with the idea of having a shower before going out to try some offal-based dish that I’d never dream of eating at home
Love… writers who can produce sparkling, cliché-free articles and reviews; my travelling partner
Hate… jobsworth airport and hotel staff; Sheffield United
