Smith Travel BlogTravel tales and hotel news from the boutique hotel experts at Mr & Mrs Smith

This week we’re prescribing a hearty dose of lavish Latin living as a post-winter pick-me-up: snugly situated on the southwest corner of London’s Hyde Park is the irresistibly Italian Baglioni Hotel…

Style: Daring decadence
Setting: Parkside palatial

Why this week? Spring is officially here but many of us are still stuck in the wintry doldrums. If you need a bit of perking up, seek salvation at this suitably luxurious spot. (And, you can take advantage of this week’s Smith-exclusive offer with three nights for the price of two).

Our favourite bits One of the big draws here is the Moreno at Baglioni ground-floor restaurant where celebrated chef Moreno Cedroni has compiled a mouthwatering menu packed with an array of avant-garde inspired Italian dishes. Many of the ingredients are imported freshly from Moreno’s homeland to ensure all those authentic regional flavours from across Italy. The stylish lounge room is furnished with grey- and gold-velvet armchairs, glass candelabras and lashings of unabashed opulence – it’s the perfect place to sample one of the restaurant’s precious Sassicaia Bordeaux-style wines.

Mr & Mrs Smith say… ‘The hotel doesn’t have the glitzy façade that some insecure five-star hotels cling to. There are none of the flags or huge signs sported by the neighbouring hotels. Clearly, Baglioni’s clientele is sufficiently in the know to be aware of its presence, because the Georgian building, although respectable and impeccable, doesn’t allude to the over-the-top grandeur that awaits inside. A cascading water feature, stone floors and oversized gold vases spilling enormous white roses create a suitably classy entrée to our new world of care-free indulgence. I feel myself happily slotting into this new lifestyle.’ Read the full Baglioni Hotel review.

You say… ‘We had a fabulous weekend at the Baglioni. We had booked three rooms and each was upgraded to a beautiful junior suite, which made the weekend extra special. The hotel itself was understated and beautifully decorated and the location, food and service was perfect.’ (Susan, Silversmith, stayed 6 January 2012) Read more Baglioni Hotel reviews from Smith’s guestbook.

Book this Baglioni Hotel offer or browse all our Smith hotel offers…

Written by Andrew Wilson, @andystravelling on Twitter.

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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 in. Then we left the Midwest and headed back east to the historic Captain Fairfield Inn in maritime Kennebunkport and one-time sea captain’s home The Platinum Pebble Boutique Inn on Cape Cod. Way out west, we were enchanted by El Encanto in beautiful Santa Barbara.

Over in the Old World, we parked our (imaginary) Lamborghini at the gates of an iconic 1930s jetsetters’ paradise, the Monte-Carlo Beach hotel on the Côte d’Azur, where the Mediterranean views are almost as good as the people watching. Meanwhile, high on a Tuscan hillside, Poggio Piglia hotel awaited us with its glittering infinity pool, home-pressed olive oil and enviable art collection.

In the UK, we found three countryside hideaways: windswept Weeke Barton on the edge of Dartmoor, the seaside Tide House in St. Ives, and Somerset’s traditional Talbot Inn.

After all that English spring gloom, we were jonesing for some serious sunshine, which island paradise Six Senses Con Dao in Vietnam gave us in spades. Then, once we managed to tear ourselves away from our towels on the exquisite private beach, we headed Down Under: we caught the last gasps of southern summer at Australia’s De Russie Suites Mudgee and Eichardt’s Private Hotel in New Zealand’s adventure hub, Queenstown.

And now, we’re jetting off to find another batch of your new favourite holiday hotspots. Meet us back here in a month for more…

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This week we’re in the mood for acres of untamed rainforest, secluded natural pools and heavy doses of yoga and smoothies. Since there’s no place better for some tropical rejuvenation than Costa Rica, we’re heading to El Silencio Lodge & Spa, an indulgent, eco-friendly oasis that seems to be floating in the clouds… 

Style Eco suites on stilts
Setting Cloud forest canopy

Why this week? The change of seasons has us craving a little healthy kickstart among the treetops and waterfalls, and what better excuse than our current Smith members-only offer for 30 per cent off stays until the end of May, including a coffee tasting for two. That sure beats a trip to the gym…

Our favourite bits A 500-acre tropical forest, a river winding through the grounds, three waterfalls cascading down the mountainside – if it’s back-to-nature you want, this stylish hotel will give it to you in eco-friendly spades. Take in picture-perfect panoramas from an outdoor hot tub, greet the sunrise from the yoga deck, and feast on natural, organic food. It’s what nature intended, only better.

Mr & Mrs Smith say… ‘El Silencio is a place where gadgets should be switched off. The hotel’s 500-acre cloud forest lends it the air of a tech-free summer camp, albeit one set deep in the Costa Rican jungle with a luxury spa and a staunchly eco-friendly ethos. Guests bunk in luxury cabins overlooking a densely wooded mountain, where rocking chairs, a king-size bed and an outdoor hot tub take the place of tents and sleeping bags. The staff arrange rock rappelling, rafting and treasure hikes, along with tours of waterfalls, the nearby volcano and steaming hot springs. On El Silencio’s grounds, an Indiana Jones-style rope bridge leads the way to gardens and a maze. Even the tranquil spa, set beside the river, embraces its wild surroundings. Mud from the nearby volcano, and rainforest botanicals are used in wraps and treatments, and rooms look out on tropical plants.’ Read more about El Silencio Lodge & Spa.

Book this El Silencio Lodge & Spa offer, or browse all our Smith hotel offers…

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All-natural Australian skincare range Sodashi is the sweet-smelling product luring us to the award-winning spa at Wolgan Valley Resort in New South Wales’ Blue Mountains. Sumptuous but chemical free, these products have us smitten. We especially love Sodashi’s Jet Lag Recovery Travel Kit: it contains products with a blend of ginger, angelica and lemongrass to help stimulate the digestive system and strengthen mental clarity to uplift and support mind, body and emotions.

Chaps, if it’s a unisexy grooming rendezvous you’re seeking, SpaQ at QT in central Sydney is not only luring sybarites by blowing hot and cold (thanks to its hammam and invigorating ice room), but this chic CBD retreat also boasts a barbershop that specialises in cutthroat shaves (pictured, above).

Over at luxury guesthouse Spicers Vineyards Estate, the brand new Spa Anise is poised to spice up a stay here in the heart of the Hunter Valley. The salubrious destination resort has debuted a day spa and added some stylish spa suites. Therapists cleanse, rejuvenate and stimulate in the most relaxing setting, while your mind, body and soul are uplifted in the soothing new bedrooms.

For more New South Wales news, visit our Experience: NSW website.

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With rain-soaked pavements and throngs of unsmiling shoppers, shopping in London can be less than pleasant without some insider knowledge. But we’re here to help: just two umbrella-dodging minutes from London’s hectic Oxford Circus, there’s a serenely sparkling wonderland: welcome to Swarovski Crystallized…

Opposite Liberty, close to all the West End theatres and just steps from No.5 Maddox Street, Swarovski Crystallized is a two-floor shopping haven: upstairs, the lounge often hosts soirées for the fashion A-list – Cara Delevingne’s popped in several times – but during the day invited guests can lounge on the decadently crystal-covered sofa (it’s really, really heavy) sipping champagne, while trinket after trinket is brought out from the display case for your admiration. You can bring your own iPod to plug into the lounge’s sound system, and on departure, lounge guests leave with a gift bag stuff with goodies… and more champagne. If you’re visiting London with a fan of dazzling crystal jewellery, this is the place to be: one Swedish Swarovski fan was even surprised in the lounge by a perfectly planned proposal (orchestrated by her creative beau with the help of the shop’s staff).

Once I’d lounged for long enough upstairs, it was time to head back down the stairs, stopping to stare at the spectacular chandelier above, for a tour of the shop floor. On ground level, a world of glittering design is laid out at your fingertips: each season, the Swarovski Crystallized collection adds new works by top designers from around the globe. If you feel like taking a trip to Brazil – to private island paradise Ponta dos Ganchos in Santa Catarina, perhaps? – pick up one of the intricate pieces by Caleidoscópio. If you’re in a Spanish mood, Anton Heunis’ colourful works of wearable art are handmade in Madrid, a mile from Hotel Único. Each designer has his or her picture displayed prominently beside their works, and it’s funny how an already gorgeous necklace seems just that little bit lovelier when you can see the handsome face of its creator (I’m looking at you, Marco Mencagli of Marmèn).

Swarovski Crystallized feels like a sweet shop for grown-ups: if you’re looking for a purple jewel-encrusted rotary phone (or perhaps just a customised, crystallised iPhone case), you’ll find it here. If cocktail rings are more your thing, there’s a brilliant array ready to try on. These are not your grandmother’s jewels, either, although there are certainly a few pieces that’d delight a chic octogenarian just as much as a trend-hunting teen:  the collection’s classic pieces – think your most glamorous great aunt going to a gala – sit elegantly alongside neon wristbands by Bibi Bijoux and Hely Designs. And if you’re feeling creative, your first port of call will be the shop’s ‘library of light’, an entire wall of loose crystals that attracts designers, stylists, make-up artists and interior designers from throughout Europe. After my hour spent sipping champagne and browsing all the beads and bangles, even the incessant rain on the pavement outside started to look like a billion brilliant crystals…

Visit Swarovski Crystallized at 24 Great Marlborough Street, London W1F 7HU. If you’d like to visit the lounge upstairs, ring ahead: +44 (0)20 7434 3444.

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This week we’re wowed by the warm waters and white beaches of the Maldives. With its palm-dotted sands, piercing blue seas, overwater spa and underwater restaurant, family-friendly hotel Anantara Kihavah Villas is the stuff of desert-island dreams.

Style Breezy seaside retreat
Setting Blissful Baa Atoll

Why this week? If you’re already setting your sights on school holidays under the sun, strike while the offer’s hot and get 30 per cent off at Anantara Kihavah Villas. Just book with Smith at least 60 days in advance for stays of four nights or more in a Beach Pool Villa or Over-water Pool Villa (both big enough to sleep two parents and two kids). Two children under 15 stay for free, including meals from the children’s menus, when sharing a villa with two adults. This offer runs until 23 December 2013, and although mid-May to November is monsoon season,  you’d be very unlucky to get more than a few days’ rain on the trot – the Maldives’ climate is pretty seductive year-round.

Our favourite bits The resort has plenty of perfect sand-snoozing spots, but flaunts its best features on and under the sea. Try snorkelling, diving, waterskiing, wakeboarding or windsurfing, and keep an eye out for aquatic wildlife: dolphins, turtles, manta rays and giant whale sharks (the friendly, vegetarian kind) make regular appearances. Send the smalls off on island escapades with the fantastic Thiththi Boli Kids Club (open 10am to 9pm daily, for children aged three to 12) while you treat yourself to some serious pampering at Anantara Spa. Watch fish swim below the glass-panelled floors while your ocean-adventuring strains are massaged away.

Mr & Mrs Smith say… ‘With a fab pool, oodles of space and a butler ready to arrange in-villa dining and massages, there’s little reason to leave your abode, which may explain why the resort’s beaches and pathways always feel pleasantly deserted. Delicious dining comes in the form of six very different restaurants and bars, including the star attraction – James Bond-worthy underwater restaurant and wine cellar Sea.’

Search for other boutique hotels in the Maldives or browse all our Smith hotel offers. For more stylish family holidays, check out our child-friendly hotel collection or see our new Smith & Family website.

Copy compiled by Sophie Young

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Ever fancied yourself as lord or lady of the manor? As soon as you cross the drawbridge over the moat at aristocratic Château de Bagnols hotel in Beaujolais, you’ll feel as though your palace-dwelling dreams have come true…

Style Five-star aristocrat
Setting Cultivated Beaujolais

Why this week? Once spring sunshine arrives, the French countryside’s ripe for idyllic bike rides and picnic lunches, so borrow the hotel’s bikes and head out to explore the vineyards and villages nearby (head up to the top of Mount Brouilly for the best views). And, Smith members can enjoy a three-night stay for the price of two with our exclusive offer.

Our favourite bits The star attraction here is the food: indulge in a gastronomic feast (from modern French cuisine to traditional spit-roasted meats and game) in the hotel’s La Salle des Gardes restaurant, washed down with an excellent selection of wines.When it’s time to retire for the night, we love the arched ceiling, 17th-century frescoes and gilded four-poster in junior suite Gaspard Dugué – the room was once part of the chapel where its namesake wed in 1609.

Mr & Mrs Smith say… ‘The interior of the château does not disappoint. It is the brainchild of a truly cultured woman, Lady Helen Hamlyn, who also owns the house by architects Mendelsohn and Chermayeff in Old Church Street, London – one of England’s first modernist houses. The rooms in both the original 13th-century castle and the ‘new’ (ie: 15th-century) block are beautiful. Our bed was as sublime as I had hoped, decorated with fragile antique textiles and made up with tactile Swiss bedlinen (which you can buy, too). Next to the bed, the water tumblers were made of silver, giving us a visceral introduction to what it must have been to be a French aristocrat. The bathroom was grand, too, with an antique marble bath and local products including a really, really strong lavender bath foam – the type that works against typhoid and tigers. We also had a huge sitting room, filled with bleeding-heart-coloured sofas, and another tiny room covered with early frescoes. It blows your mind.’

Read the full review of Château de Bagnols by design doyenne Ilse Crawford. Find more hotels in Beaujolais, or search all our hotel offers…

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This week we’re in the mood for swaying palm trees, swinging poolside parties and swanky suites… so we’re off to the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in groovy Palm Springs. A two-hour drive east of Los Angeles, this stylish SoCal desert town is the storied hideout of Hollywood stars and a draw for industry insiders and creative types.

Style Hipster’s canyon commune
Setting South of downtown

Why this week? Feeling the urge to roll the top down, crank the stereo and just drive off into the distance? ­Then Palm Springs is the perfect point on the horizon for your cinematic escape. The desert heats up tremendously in the summer, so make a spring break for beautiful balmy days and starry-skied nights. (What’s more, Smith members can extend the weekend with our 20 per cent off 3 nights offer).

Our favourite bits Here lies a former 1960s drive-in motel and diner that died and went to hotel heaven. Walls draped in fabrics lend a luxe campsite feel and the vintage furniture and record players with stacks of vinyl gives each room a retro swing. The ubiquitous arts and handicrafts all complement the creative community perched poolside (with cocktails in hand, of course). Join them for a dip in one hotel’s two pools, bubble together in a hot tub beneath the open desert sky or duck into a massage yurt for a botanical facial or hot stone massage.

Mr & Mrs Smith say… ‘Mr Smith and I make our way into the lobby, slipping off our sunglasses and wiping our brows before taking a peek into the California-cool diner. I can’t help but singing to myself, ‘You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.’ It’s like we’ve walked into our favourite dive bar – outfitted even with a vintage photo booth – only here, ‘last call’ means a short walk to your hotel room rather than a cold and cruel search for a taxi. We exchange knowing looks – this isn’t the hotel of relaxing days and calm, quiet nights. The Ace Hotel and Swim Club, as the many full-sized bottles of liquor in our room attest, is for the young at heart with thriving livers, constant hunger pangs, and a propensity for surviving in intense heat’.’ Read the full anonymous review of Ace Hotel & Swim Club.

You say… ‘Expansive pool area with plenty of sun beds and super-cool circular sunshades which we had fun twisting round, plus cool poolside bar. Note my extensive use of the word ‘cool’ – it’s definitely the definitive term at this hotel which is focused on making you feel like a rock star on a weekend retreat – even if you aren’t.’ (Samantha, GoldSmith, stayed on 21 Aug 2012.) Read the full guestbook entry for Ace Hotel & Swim Club.

Book this Ace Hotel & Swim Club hotel offer, or browse all our Smith hotel offers…

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Fancy whetting the wanderlust in your life? Then get hinting on our cheeky new Facebook app, guaranteed to galvanise your partner, posse or pals into travel action…

If you’re hankering to be whisked away somewhere Smithy, just drop a hotel-hopping hint on Facebook and let Smith’s witty new app play Cupid. You can choose any of our ready-made prompts to inspire your partner to book a minibreak or pen your own not-so-subtle command and team it with a stylish Smith hotel pic. Then simply send to that special someone (or all your globetrotting gang). We launched our romance-revving Facebook app last month, but just wanted to remind you that there are seductive travel prizes up for grabs, too, from Smith hotel gift vouchers to free nights away – and the more hints you share, the more likely you are to snare one. Happy hinting…

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Last week, we sat down with Malin + Goetz co-founder Andrew Goetz to get the scoop on the stylish duo’s travel tips. We couldn’t let him off the hook, though, without getting a peek into their little black book of favourite on-the-road places to eat, drink, sleep and shop in Amsterdam, plus his top restaurants in London, Los Angeles and New York.

ANDREW GOETZ’S INSIDER ADDRESS BOOK

I used to live in Amsterdam, so it’s always a place I love to return to. This year, the Rijksmuseum and De Stedelijk Museum have both just emerged from massive renovations. There are lots of great places to stay in Amsterdam – I really like the Exchange and The Dylan. If you want something really unique, the Droog offers an amazing room.

There are so many great restaurants, too. One of my favourites is a Chinese restaurant simply called Sichuan Food on the Reguliersdwarsstraat in the center. I also like Zuid Zeeland on the Herengracht and De Reiger on the Nieuwe Leliestraat in the Jordaan. And I can never pass up a brootje haring (herring sandwich) from a local fish vendor.

Rijksmuseum 1 Jan Luijkenstraat, 1071 CJ Amsterdam (+31 20 674 7000)
De Stedelijk Museum 10 Museumplein, 1071 DJ Amsterdam (+31 20 573 2911)
Exchange 50 Damrak, 1012 LL Amsterdam (+31 20 523 0080)
The Dylan 384 Keizersgracht, 1016 GB Amsterdam (+31 20 530 2010)
Droog 7b Staalstraat, 1011 JJ Amsterdam (+31 20 523 5059)
Sichuan Food 35 Reguliersdwarsstraat, 1017 BK Amsterdam (+31 20 626 9327)
Zuid Zeeland 413 Herengracht, 1017 BP Amsterdam (+31 20 624 31 54)
De Reiger 34a Nieuwe Leliestraat, 1015 ST Amsterdam (+31 20 624 7426)

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL EATS

London St John: Fergus Henderson’s love letter to lesser known cuts of meat (left)
26 St John Street, London EC1M 4AY (+44 (0)20 3301 8069)
Los Angeles Angelini Osteria: forward-thinking yet traditional Italian in Mid-Wilshire
7313 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (+1 323 297 0070)
New York I Sodi: stylish West Village Tuscan enoteca-style eatery
105 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014 (+1 212 414 5774)

(Psst… If you’re a Malin + Goetz product junkie, don’t forget that you can get one of their nourishing skincare collections free when you book five nights at any of our Winter Sun hotels…)

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