Get the low-down from the original style-seekers' latest good-time hunting expeditions, find destination inspiration and insider tips from around the world. Welcome to the official Smith blog: we hope you enjoy your stay
On a recent weekend away in the Queensland capital, we hit up some of Brisbane’s best bars and restaurants before our heads hit the pillow at designer haven Spicers Balfour Hotel. Here are our tips for eating and drinking in Fortitude Valley, just a short hop from this hip urban bolthole.
If you’re staying at Spicers [...]
Temperance can wait: we’re gathering our beads and heading to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. French Quarter favourite Soniat House hotel is a quiet charmer right in the heart of the action. Whether you party all night or sit back on your balcony with a julep, there are plenty of ways to let the good [...]
To keep our inventory of insider city tips fresh and shiny, we regularly ask our style-spotting spies to report back from their trips with the latest travel news and views. Here, magician-slash-comedian-slash-hotel-reviewer Chris Cox shares his learnings from La-La Land and reveals how to live like a big-shot (Edinburgh Festival) star in Los Angeles…
LA, the home [...]
Good grief: death finally got its own festival in the UK last weekend. Since we hate to miss out on under-the-radar activities in London, we sent a spy. Bon viveur Bruce Traynor’s verdict was that Death: Festival for the Living at London’s Southbank Centre was definitely worth writing home about…
London Southbank’s artistic director, Jude Kelly, [...]
Given the abundance of gorgeous getaways on Indonesia’s most popular island, deciding which are the best Bali boutique hotels is a tough gig. As ever, we’re happy to do the hard work for you, in the name of research. Just back from a recent tour of stylish Smith stays there, we’ve selected five top spots [...]
In honour of yesterday’s Australia Day celebrations (for which our Melbourne team naturally took a day off in the sunshine, and laughed at their colleagues in London and NY while eating Samboy barbecue chips and Tim Tams), we bring you Spicers Canopy, a glorious glamping getaway in Australia’s Scenic Rim.
Style Back to nature
Setting Mountain [...]
January’s the most anticlimactic of months: it starts with a bang of popping champagne corks and exploding fireworks, then immediately peters out, leaving you with nothing but a hangover and soggy streamers on your light fittings. But if you’ve found yourself slumped in the New Year doldrums, Smith has the solution: a springtime escape to [...]
How does an inexpensive week in sunny Fez, whilst learning a new skill, with a bit of pampering on the side sound? Yes, that’s what we thought… Have a look at Palais Amani riad in Morocco.
Unique in the Smith collection, Bay of Fires Lodge & Walk in north-east Tasmania combines a stay at a boutique eco-retreat with an inspiring two-day guided trek along one of Australia’s iconic coastlines. Turquoise seas, snow-white beaches and wildlife-filled bush make the Bay of Fires the perfect place to recharge…
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1 Day One kicks off [...]
While most of the world gobbles down turkey like there’s no tomorrow (or indeed Boxing Day), some prefer not to eat turkey at all – given a choice of festive fowl, I’d never pick turkey. Never. It could sit plumply on the supermarket subs’ bench till kingdom come for all I care, forever in the [...]
