We’re gleefully celebrating Spring’s arrival with a globe-spanning host of new hotels this month. We kicked off our world tour in the Windy City, where Ian Schrager’s sleek Public Chicago hotel has impressive Lake Michigan views, a glittering crowd invariably gathered in the bar, and some elegant guest rooms big enough to throw a party [...]
We’re starting the new year as we mean to go on, with a host of heavenly hotels. This month, we’ve already enjoyed a Tuscan tryst: we were seduced by a cosmopolitan Chianti castle, Castello del Nero and also Villa Armena, a baroque villa near Siena. In London, the witty Ampersand hotel in Kensington wowed us, [...]
This month, we dipped into French Polynesia, discovering Manava Suite Resort, a surfers’ paradise in Tahiti; Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa, a lagoon-side hotel on Moorea; Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort & Spa, a hamlet of overwater bungalows in Bora Bora (above); and Tikehau Pearl Beach Resort, a secluded escape in the Tuamotus. In Malaysia, we [...]
This month, we discovered stylish hotels in Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Greece, France, Italy, the UK, the USA, Bali and Thailand.
This month, we added several stylish UK stays to our handpicked hotel collection: Number Thirty Eight, a boutique Bristol townhouse; the very pretty Vine House in Norfolk; The Cranley Hotel, a particularly genteel Londoner; and Belgraves, a little slice of the Big Apple in the heart of Belgravia. Then, we popped across the channel to [...]
We’re not the sort that likes to sing our own praises (ok, we are, a bit), but we’d like to ask you to raise a glass of virtual prosecco in honour of our shiniest new gong: Best Travel Guide. Our Italy guidebook – the most recent addition to the Smith travel bookshelf – scooped the [...]
We couldn’t forgive ourselves if we didn’t begin 2012 in style. Luckily, this month’s exploring unwrapped some super new Smith hotels in Somerset, Shropshire and Naples. First we checked into The Swan Wedmore, a pub with poise (and a darn good restaurant) in Sedgemoor, a quiet, pretty patch of Somerset. Here we discovered real ale, the [...]
As you hopefully know by now, our anonymous reviewers stay incognito with their significant others then spill the secrets of their stay. Here, we introduce you to another member of the Mr & Mrs Smith family, designer Martha Freud… Martha Freud visited an arty hotel in Versilia, Tuscany for us with her actual Mr Smith – [...]
Sometimes, the word ‘hotel’ feels mighty inadequate. When describing Castello di Vicarello for instance: a mediaeval castle that’s magical, rustic, romantic, luxurious, warmly welcoming, irresistible and utterly unforgettable. How can such a thing be summed up in one two-syllable word? With that in mind, we’ve written an entire blog post in its honour, spurred on [...]
We like to get around a bit at Smith, as Mary’s recent roving around America attests. The last month was no different, with team members in and out and all over the place (Crete, Puglia, Cornwall, Atlanta…). Here’s what we found… Short-haul hops to Europe led us to the Sextantio properties in Italy. The first, [...]
