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
Alain Ducasse - a longtime leading light on the culinary scene – hardly needs an introduction. Here, we talk to the mighty Michelin-starred chef behind projects as varied as Le Louis XV in Monaco and, recently, a quartet of French country inns, including Smith stays Domaine des Andéols in Provence and L’Andana in Tuscany. Alain [...]
Wait until you see the fantastic new luxury self-catering properties I have just visited for our Smith & Friends collection. I’m so excited that we’ll have four really special new holiday houses launching when our December newsletter, Room Service, goes out.
Trust me, friends and families looking for stylish rentals on the UK’s South coast will [...]
Who says the financial gloom-mongers’ talk of a recession need rain on your parade? And who says you have to give up your well-earned spoil-yourself boutique breaks because of it? Here are Mr & Mrs Smith’s top ’style on a shoestring’ tips for travelling smarter and making your money go further …
1. It may sound [...]
Paradise by way of Kensal Green: it’s hard to resist the temptation to say that this pub and restaurant truly is a pocket of paradise via W10 – so now that’s out of the way, let’s talk game. Just wait until you sample the meat and fowl concoctions they’ve cunningly matched with inspired reds to [...]
As you may or may not know, one of the most important things we do at Mr & Mrs Smith is get every property in our hotel collection anonymously reviewed by a real-life couple: it’s the only way to really make sure the hotel lives up to our romantic expectations and is a tip-top together-time [...]
After Anthony’s post (Best steak in London?) about the so-good-we-drooled T-bones Team Smith had at the Hawksmoor steakhouse, we thought you might like to meet Will Beckett, the well-travelled man behind the meat, as it were. [Thinking to self: goodness, must rein in those cheesy puns.] A kindred soul of Smith’s, he’s not averse to [...]
Game season is now officially here, so we’ve managed to persuade someone considerably better at cooking than us – chef Michael Caines – to devise a seasonal recipe for you: Roast Partridge with braised chicory, quince puree, toasted walnuts, wild mushrooms and a Gewürztraminer wine sauce. Ok, so it’s a bit involved, but trust us, [...]
There can be few things more irksome than being left out while an entire roomful of smug people simultaneously rave about something you’ve never tried (like a super-exclusive wine) or somewhere you’ve never been (like a favourite hotel) - and believe me, at Mr & Mrs Smith, it’s a regular occurrence. It’s like being back [...]
Kelly Wearstler is the interior designer behind a considerable number of Mr & Mrs Smith’s favourite luxury boutique hotels across the pond (including the Viceroy Santa Monica and Viceroy Palm Springs hotels in California, and Tides Riviera Maya in Mexico, to name just a few). As a result, she sailed effortlessly into second slot in [...]
Five or so years ago, cider drinkers were generally treated with the kind of uneasy suspicion normally afforded to plague carriers, teenage hoodies and over-friendly cousins. Thanks to the marketing efforts of Magners, Bulmers and their ilk, however, cider is acceptable again, even bordering on a discerning option for bar-hopping urbanites. Strongbow on tap? Sooo [...]
