Travel Blog - Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels

The ultimate collection of stylish boutique hotels worldwide.

Mr & Mrs Smith

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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

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Archive for the 'Shopping' Category

Rocking all over the world

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Have you ever noticed how actresses about to receive a necklace on screen are always bare-necked before their suitor rocks up with a jewellery gift? If you, too, know that naked feeling when you’re in your hotel room, getting ready for a fabulous night out – get your partner to channel Richard Gere in Pretty [...]

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Hotel (Crillon le Brave) of the week

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Having disgraced ourselves at last week’s Call My Bluff-style wine challenge, we’re determined to reclaim our oenophilic crown and return to cultural kingliness à la Smith. So we’re leaving London behind this week and heading south to chase those fading summer rays in Provence, where a distinct lull in the air can only mean that [...]

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Looking good in Miami (this one’s on us)

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Attention all Stateside Smith bloggees (that’s you that is) – have we got one superb and stylish prize for you. Anyone in the US can enter our Miami For Two competition, in association with Original Penguin, and really should. This is your chance to win two nights in Florida, for two people, and two stylish [...]

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What to wear where (be it Miami or Birmingham)

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Planning a boutique hotel break is not just about finding the right place to stay. Even when you’ve pinned down your perfect location, how to hone down our threads to hand-luggage proportions?
Isabella Oliver – best known for its sartorial ways with baby bumps – now stocks a 365 collection of no-pregnancy-required womenswear. Dresses, tops, [...]

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There are a few things you can rely on finding at the English seaside: fish ’n’ chips and candyfloss; stocky-legged kiddiwinks with buckets and spades. Less predictable is the weather. And something you really might not expect? A world-class Italian pasticceria – that’s a patisserie, for those in the know.
So imagine our delight when [...]

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Fashion finds from New York to Newburgh

Monday, August 24th, 2009

To be fashionable these days, it seems you need to be in pop-up format. Walls, foundations and just plain standing still have become deeply uncool, due to a recent flurry of fold-away activity, from eateries to bars, boutiques to parties. Smith HQ jumped on the (unstable) bandwagon a while ago – we’ve lusted after vintage [...]

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In the diary: tomato warfare

Monday, August 17th, 2009

LA TOMATINA

Date 26 August
Place Buñol, Spain
Style Paint the town red
Setting Fruit-soaked Mediterranean square

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Sundaes and sunny days

Monday, August 10th, 2009

So far, summer 2009 has lacked sunshine in every sense. We’ve seen a generous onslaught of rain, we’ve lost the King of Pop and a perfectly coiffed Charlie’s Angel and the sound of someone sneezing on a tube is enough to send swine-flu-dreading commuters scuttling for cover. Our medicinal mood-booster? Ice-cream. Pure and simple. What [...]

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How to follow a fabulous Portuguese farmhouse, a cosy Norfolk cottage and a trad Thamesside inn? Why, with another equally stunning boutique property, of course. This week, our fickle fancies turn to…

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My heart belongs to Painswick. No, it’s not a tubby waistcoated Dickens character, it’s an adorable tiny town in the South Cotswolds. I’m a shallow soul really. A gorgeous boutique hotel, a sprinkling of couldn’t-be-cuter shops (Ha’Penny Antiques, left), an excellent deli and a country pub and I’m smitten. Throw in your chocolate-box Cotswold-stone village [...]

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