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
With a look book that’s generally considered to be the last word in British bridal elegance, Amanda Wakeley (OBE, if you don’t mind) is renowned for her fashion finesse (not to mention after-dark attire, if Beyoncé’s recent Vegas clubwear and Florence & the Machine‘s choice of performance get-up, below right, are anything to go by). [...]
Here at Mr & Mrs Smith we love Immodesty Blaize – not just for her looks, but also her travel savvy. While the glamorous burlesque star may not be the most inconspicuous guest, she was the ideal person for us to send incognito to review Il Salviatino in Florence. For more fantastic luxury travel advice, [...]
In the run-up to the launch of Mr & Mrs Smith’s new France hotel guidebook on 1 July, we’re bringing you a series of posts about one of our favourite European destinations. Today, we visit the romantic-weekend capital of the world with a peek at some of Paris’ hidden delights, courtesy of Francophile femme and [...]
With grey skies looming over Smith HQ, our British-summertime thoughts have turned to log fires and four-posters, floor-to-ceiling tapestries and fleur-de-lys cushions; and by that point they’ve turned south and ever so slightly west towards the portcullis-ed palace of pleasures that is Amberley Castle in West Sussex… Style Moated mediaeval retreat Setting Scenic Sussex Why [...]
May is a festive month of bank holidays, cherry blossom, people attached to ribbons dancing around a pole and the Eurovision Song Contest. We like May. We’re heralding its arrival by joining in with the fun (hotel-shaped, of course)… This month, we sent our spies westwards to Cornwall to comb the coast in search of [...]
It’s no secret that a judicious sprinkling of vintage fleamarket finds is de rigueur in any self-respecting interior these days, but we’re seeing more and more mid-century modern pieces cropping up in Smith’s collection of boutique hotels (and soon in some of our bloggistas’ boudoirs, thanks to the amazing design show we went to this [...]
Martin Miller doesn’t like birthdays, doesn’t really like weddings, and isn’t sure if he likes hotels (other than Miller’s Residence of course). He used to like partying – still does every now and then – loves a G&T (made with Martin Miller’s Gin), prefers his bedrooms on the cosy side and has a magnetic attraction [...]
With the last of the fashion weeks causing catwalk-and-couture chaos in Paris, we’ve found some supermodel-worthy stays, dreamed up by designers usually famed for their frocks… Christian Lacroix takes over in the capital of couture, Paris. He’s transformed the 400-year-old building of the Hôtel Notre Dame into a designer devotion to the city’s famous cathedral. [...]
If you haven’t yet seen the work of hip homewares-customiser Lou Rota… well, you should. Lou forages for cast-off crockery and furniture, reinvents it using collage, découpage and a healthy dose of imagination, and produces some of the most intriguing eco-chic artworks around today. Plastic stacking chairs are given fabulous floral makeovers and chintz-patterned china [...]
We Smiths like to rank ourselves rather highly in the cookery stakes. In fact, a week rarely goes by without Gareth bringing in baking-parchment parcels containing new-recipe treats or Anthony relaying his latest culinary combinations (eg. pork balls and rice for breakfast). But if there’s any time of year when you need skills in the [...]
