Our reviewers

Our reviewers are a worldwide panel of friends and people we admire, who we trust absolutely in terms of reporting back to us on Smith hotels. The only requirement is that they visit each hotel anonymously with a partner, and on their return give us the kind of honest lowdown you would expect from a friend.

Select reviewer type… The artists The chefs The dedicated followers of fashion The entrepreneurs The journalists The media gurus The retail creatives The stars of stage and screen Other people we love

Mr & Mrs Smith reviewers

Ronda Carman Editor, Allthebestblog.com
A quest for the finest champagne and the perfect pair of shoes was the impetus behind Ronda Carman’s decision to found the now-internationally recognised blog All the Best (www.allthebestblog.com). Naturally curious of mind, she posts daily on topics ranging from design, travel, food and art. A native Texan, now living in Scotland, Ronda divides her time between Glasgow and the window seat of various airplanes.
Reviewed Royalton, New York; St James's Hotel & Club, London.

Stella McCartney Fashion designer
Stella graduated from Central St Martins in 1995 and became creative director of Chloé. In 2001, she launched her own label in partnership with the Gucci Group. She co-wrote her review with her husband, Alasdhair Willis, former publisher of Wallpaper* and now head of creative consultancy Announcement.
Reviewed JK Place, Florence.

Serena Rees Designer and co-founder, Agent Provocateur
Since luxury undies merchant Agent Provocateur first threw open its sexily-scented doors back in 1994, co-founder Serena Rees has been the driving force behind its meteoric rise to the world’s number one fashion lingerie brand. Her passion, relentless hard work and uncompromising attention to beauty and detail makes Serena the perfect stylish-hotel spy when it comes to meeting Mr & Mrs Smith’s exacting standards. Plus, she knows a thing or two about what works and what doesn't in the boudoir…
Reviewed Bellinter House, County Meath.

Bee Shaffer Fashion columnist
Jet-setting daughter of legendary US Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Bee Shaffer divides her time between her history degree at New York’s Columbia University and her journalism career. Despite her youth (she’s just turned 21), Bee, whose real name is Katherine, has worked as a style columnist for the Daily Telegraph and a contributor to Teen Vogue, and has visited some of the furthest flung corners of the globe. Her list of top trips includes searching for tigers in Ranthambore, India, trekking through Libya’s Leptis Magna ruins, and a week riding Vespas around Mykonos, but she assures us that her trip to Rome for Mr & Mrs Smith is up there with the best of them.
Reviewed Portrait Suites, Rome.

Dita Von Teese Burlesque artist
The indisputable queen of burlesque, Dita has transcended the scene in which she made her name to adorn the covers of fashion magazines on both sides of the Atlantic. Best known for her provocative shows in which she performs an old-fashioned striptease that culminates with her submerging herself in a giant martini glass, Dita has graced stages all over the world, gaining plaudits for her Forties-inspired look and for evoking a sense of retro glamour that’s adored by both men and women. Briefly married to goth-rock icon Marilyn Manson, she now concentrates her energies on fronting MAC’s Viva Glam campaign, and on checking out hotels in her home town of Los Angeles for Mr & Mrs Smith.
Reviewed Viceroy Santa Monica, Los Angeles.

Suzanne Aaronson Lifestyle curator
Though she is now London-based, Suzanne Aaronson has lived in various spots in the US, Continental Europe, and Latin America. Having experienced so many places, cultures and people, her lifestyle recommendations carry some serious weight. Suzanne's Files, her online treasure trove of tips, guides and opinions, cuts through the noise and delivers honest, highly personal and opinionated reviews to high-end consumers who seek quality.
Reviewed Knightsbridge Hotel, London.

Anna Acton Portrait-snapping actress
Anna has stayed in more than her fair share of excellent, mediocre and downright terrible hotels. She has been working in theatre and TV since leaving university and is probably best known for her role as Geri in Family Affairs and as Rochelle Barratt in The Bill. When she has a spare minute, in between tending to her new baby, Anna also takes portrait shots of actors and presenters.
Reviewed Rayavadee, Krabi.

Lisa Allardice Book-world reporter
As editor of the Guardian Review, Lisa’s travels mostly involve interviewing authors in remotest Canada or wet weekends at Welsh book festivals. Two years ago, Harper’s Bazaar sent her to review six-star hotels in the Seychelles – alas resetting her hotel benchmark forever. Closer to home, Lisa – who has grilled arts luminaries including Natalie Portman, Audrey Niffenegger and Doris Lessing – is happiest driving her mini along Dorset’s coastal roads.
Reviewed Hipping Hall, Lake District; Les Rosées, Côte D'azur (east), and Monte-Arena, Languedoc-Roussillon, and Dar Darma, Marrakech, and Riad Tarabel, Marrakech.

Jason Alper Costume designer and stylist
A Londoner with one foot in LA, Jason Alper works in film and TV, recently filming with Sacha Baron Cohen in the States. Back in the Ali G days, Jason once found himself among burly Jamaica customs officials, explaining three fake fur coats and a case full of (fake) diamonds. It seemed to satisfy them when he announced: ‘I hear it’s quite dressy at night.’
Reviewed The Gray, Milan.

David Annand Top model
Seven years of writing assignments and four years of fashion modelling have taken GQ Style associate editor David on a pretty comprehensive tour of the world's hotels. In marble-floored palaces in the Arabian desert, and Milanese fleapits, David, who has modelled for Prada and Rolex, has whiled away many hours watching films dubbed into languages he does not speak, and getting drunk on his own. So it was a welcome respite to finally be allowed to take Mrs Smith along for the ride.
Reviewed L'Hôtel Particulier, Provence; Riva Lofts, Florence, and Malabar Escapes: Trinity, Kerala, and Malabar Escapes: Serenity, Kerala, and Malabar Escapes: Privacy and Discovery, Kerala.

Ismay Atkins Virtual editor
Five years as an editor for Time Out Guides took Ismay to the highest hotel in the world in Shanghai, desert kasbahs in Morocco, impeccably designed suites in Stockholm and all manner of hostelries in between. Stints in Mexico and Havana in her Twenties gave her a taste for Latin America and so in 2006 – in a moment of calculated carpe diem – she left the Thames for the sultry shores of the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Having left home, job and friends behind, she was relieved to find near-constant blue skies, butter-soft steaks and free-flowing Malbec. She works as a remote editor and freelance journalist.
Reviewed La Maison, Rio De Janeiro.

Jenni Avins Aesthetic adventurer
When people asked a very young Jenni Avins what she wanted to be when she grew up, she often replied, ‘a bird’. Though she misunderstood the question, her answer wasn’t far off. Jenni has flown around the world, trawling markets on fashion designers’ behalf in many a continent, and has written about travel, food, fashion and art for magazines such as New York Magazine, Nylon, Saveur and Time Out (increasing her appreciation for Smith-level accommodation). She has called Rio de Janeiro, New Zealand and Santa Barbara home. Today she nests in New York, and tracks her flights of fancy on her blog, Jaybird.
Reviewed The Drake, Toronto; Hotel Fazenda da Lagoa, Bahia, and Murmuri, Barcelona.

Janie Balcomb Director's representative
Janie has worked in TV commercials for over a decade, representing some of the world’s best directors, such as Jason Reitman and Rupert Sanders. As a result she’s enjoyed extended stays in Sydney, Buenos Aires and LA – and has become an arbiter of crisp, clean sheets and proper morning coffee. Spontaneity and an open mind are her travel essentials, as is a willingness to try anything and always eat where the locals do – not that we had her slumming it in the name of Smith. Her favourite hideaway in the world? A little cabaña in Uruguay facing the water.
Reviewed The Crescent, Los Angeles.

Nick Barham Advertising strategist, Shanghai
A year in China has provided Nick with a lifetime of luxury horrors: from Cristal-juggling bartenders to Louis XIV private rooms recreated in plywood and glitter. China is high-life crazy right now, but with his cynical London eye and taste for all things bitter, Nick is not easily swayed by the attempts to seduce via neon, teenage waitresses and pink cocktails.

Sophie Barton Deputy editor, Closer
Sophie spent the first few years of her journalism career as a features writer, chasing stories around the UK and beyond. She stopped over in numerous hotels along the way, many of which were shambolic and memorable for all the wrong reasons. Thankfully the balance has been redressed by fantastic experiences in Kerala, Jamaica, Santorini, Peru and the Amalfi Coast. She is now deputy editor at celebrity weekly magazine Closer. When she isn't working, she hightails it down to Dorset, where she lazes by the fire and eats far too much cheese.
Reviewed Alila Ubud, Bali; Casa Angelina, Amalfi Coast.

Claire Baylis Freelance writer and editor, (Marie Claire, Eve, Grazia)
Having interviewed the likes of Robbie Williams and David Beckham in London's most luxurious hotel suites, and travelled the world to review the best spas, hideaways and resorts, Claire is well equipped to sort the boutique hotel wheat from the chaff. Having ridden camels in Timbuktu with Zoe Ball, conquered mountains on horseback and mastered the art of snow-boarding in 48 hours, she knows the importance of a top-notch king size bed, rain-dance shower and well-stocked minibar.
Reviewed Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool.

Oli Beale Ad man and complaint-letter creative
Never mess with a hungry copywriter – a lesson Richard Branson learned in quite a public way when Oli Beale’s letter swept the internet at the start of 2009. Oli lives and works in London, writing adverts for a leading agency. He combines his two greatest passions of travelling and complaining whenever possible. Follow him on Twitter.
Reviewed Maison MK, Marrakech; Les Deux Tours, Marrakech, and The Cooper Square Hotel, New York, and The Standard NY, New York.

Will Beckett Meat merchant
While other kids were out stealing hubcaps or honing their skills in pool halls, Will was eating in Michelin-starred restaurants with his journo mother. From the badlands of the Roux brothers' restaurants, he hatched a fiendish plan for a bar/restaurant empire and consultancy business (www.underdog-group.com). This dedication to endless eating and drinking impressed Mr & Mrs Smith enough to send him out to find the best hotel food available to man. He now spends most of his non-reviewing time building his steak restaurant business, Hawksmoor.
Reviewed Whitehouse, Devon; Cuixmala, Jalisco.

Richard Bence Freelance writer and lifestyle editor, Attitude
Highlights of Richard’s recent travel past are a spring break at the retro Parker in Palm Springs, and a weekend on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, where he coincided with the visiting Argentinian polo team – for the second time in a year. Come summer, Richard will decamp to Ibiza for his annual dose of sunshine and hedonism. Richard wrote our feature on luxury travel accessories.
Reviewed Homeric Poems, Santorini; Villa Fontelunga, Tuscany, and Sofa Hotel & Residences, Istanbul, and Mystique, Santorini, and Sri Panwa, Phuket & Khao Lak.

Jeroen Bergmans Journalist
Jeroen graduated from Bristol University a decade ago, and immediately put his six languages to good use, working as a guide to American high-school kids on 'Europe in a week' educational tours. After a stint in the arid world of business travel, he joined the launch team of the Hempel, London's first minimalist, East-meets-West hotel. There he discovered a passion for design, inspiring his move to Wallpaper* magazine where, four years ago, he became travel editor.
Reviewed La Sommità, Puglia.

Raymond Blanc Chef-patron, Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons
Born in Besançon, France, Raymond Blanc opened Le Manoir in Oxfordshire in 1984, to fulfil his vision of a hotel and restaurant where guests can expect perfection in cuisine, service and comfort. Le Manoir is the only country-house hotel in the UK to maintain two Michelin stars for 16 years.
Reviewed Cowley Manor, Cotswolds.

Nellie Blundell Travel journalist and copywriter
Dividing her time between London and Sydney, with many a stop-over in between, Nellie has become a connoisseur of the hotel bed. The memorable ones get a mention in her stories for Aussie broadsheet, The Australian. In London, she's written a regular column for Time Out's food pages and moonlights as a copywriter with branding and design agencies across the city.
Reviewed A'jia Hotel, Istanbul.

Helen Bodycomb Master Mosaicist

Reviewed Mollies, Auckland.

Tracey Boyd Fashion designer
The British womenswear label Boyd expanded out of Tracey’s back bedroom in the late Nineties; in February 2000, she won the New Generation prize at the British Fashion Awards. The first Boyd shop opened in September 2001 at 42 Elizabeth Street in London’s Belgravia, and the label continues to expand around the world.
Reviewed Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Oxfordshire.

Susie Boyt Novelist
Susie is the author of four critically acclaimed novels, including Only Human. Her newest book, a collision of show tunes, hero-worship, biography and self-help, is My Judy Garland Life. She also writes a weekly shopping column about fashion and shopping for the Financial Times Weekend. Susie lives in London with her family, and has never visited anywhere else she likes half as much.
Reviewed Château les Merles, Dordogne.

Felix Buxton Musician/DJ, Basement Jaxx
Felix and his musical partner Simon Ratcliffe fuse Latin, ragga and hip-hop with the underground sounds and attitude of their native South London. They've taken the sound of SW9 to Australia, America and Japan, and their albums – Remedy, Rooty and 2003’s Kish Kash – are enduring dance documents.

John Carruthers New Venurer

Reviewed The Spire, Queenstown.

Terry Carter
Terry has lived in the United Arab Emirates since 1998, after too many years of 60-hour weeks in Sydney’s publishing industry. Having erroneously concluded that travel writing and photography was a far more glamorous occupation than designing books or websites, he’s been writing and photographing his way around the world ever since. Terry’s travels have seen him present his passport at immigration counters in some 60 countries, with Thailand stamps featuring heavily.
Reviewed The Metropolitan Bangkok, Bangkok.

Jess Cartner-Morley Fashion editor, The Guardian
From Ibiza to Iceland and Paris to Perth, Jess has been sampled hotels - all in the line of duty - while reporting from the international catwalks as Fashion Editor of The Guardian. She and her husband Tom Findlay from Groove Armada have recently had their second child, Pearl, and both are very much looking forward to another well-deserved hotel-break soon.
Reviewed Hotel Endsleigh, Devon; Hotel de Russie, Rome, and Residenza Napoleone III, Rome.

Mark Chalmers Creative director, Strawberry Frog
Formerly an architect and artist, Amsterdam-based Mark Chalmers is creative partner at global ad agency StrawberryFrog, and has worked on international campaigns for brands such as Sony-Ericsson and MTV. Having recently been locked out of his hotel room naked, he promises in future to keep a copy of Mr & Mrs close at hand at all times, if not always for intended use.
Reviewed Hotel Seven One Seven, Amsterdam; Urbn Hotels Shanghai, Shanghai.

Emily Chalmers Interiors stylist and author
Having smoothly progressed from enforcing bedroom makeovers on schoolfriends to forging a career as a photographic interiors stylist and author (with six inspiring books under her belt), Emily found herself comfortably slotting into the role of Mrs Smith. Emily’s latest project – her Spitalfields Market boutique, Caravan (www.caravanstyle.com) – provides the perfect excuse to seek out those special products from far-away places. At least, that’s what she tells Mr Smith…
Reviewed The Millhouse, County Meath.

Rob Chilton Features director, OK! New York
Six-foot New York-dweller Rob Chilton spends his transatlantic flights dreaming of stretching out in a kingsize hotel bed. As a travel writer, Rob has nosed around some of the most fabulous hotels in the world, in Thailand, India, Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, which he describes simply as ‘mindblowing’.
Reviewed The Bryant Park Hotel, New York.

Addie Chinn Managing editor, Urban Junkies
As a trained social anthropologist, seasoned barkeep, and professional wordsmith and photographer, Addie's recipe for a top vacation consists chiefly of: several large measures of palatable alcohol; one healthy dash of local culture; and a splash each of intellectual and physical distraction; all shaken and served over a beautiful backdrop, preferably involving a glistening ocean and the odd stunning sunset. An avid bibliophile and socialite, he is currently also the managing editor of London's favourite daily newsletter and website Urban Junkies – meaning that he can be a critical, if occasionally amusing sod to boot.
Reviewed Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur; Amanpuri, Phuket & Khao Lak, and Zeavola, Koh Phi Phi.

Andrew Chiodo Menswear Designer

Reviewed Limes Hotel, Brisbane.

Carrie Choo On-the-pulse-blogger

Reviewed Capella Lodge, Lord Howe Island.

Alison Chow Co-founder, Coco Ribbon
Alison has lived in Sydney, Hong Kong and New York, so she travels frequently between them to visit family and friends. Buying trips take her to Paris, Brazil and Shanghai, and her favourite holiday spots include Marrakech and Verbier, where she indulges her passion for skiing.
Reviewed Can Simoneta, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

Shaun Clarkson Interior designer
With a BA in fine art and a series of successful exhibitions under his belt, Shaun Clarkson gained attention for his outrageous sculptures and installations. He is best known in the UK for London venues such as the Atlantic Bar & Grill, Jerusalem, Denim, Pop, Bartok and the Cheyne Walk Brasserie.

Lucy Cleland Editor, Country House
Country-house connoisseur Lucy honed her glossy-magazine skills at Condé Nast, before launching Country House: a magazine aimed at city folk searching for their dream out-of-town house. She may spend most of her working day poring over rural porn, but at the weekends, Lucy can be found digging the vegetable garden at her family home in the New Forest. So what's her big boutiquey daydream? To renovate a dilapidated old colonial house in Goa and turn it into a luxury hotel, of course.
Reviewed Brunton Boatyard, Kerala; Old Harbour Hotel, Kerala, and Kalari Kovilakom, Kerala, and Mykonos Grace, Mykonos, and Cavo Tagoo, Mykonos, and High Road House, London.

Kirstie Clements Editor-in-chief

Reviewed Gaia Retreat & Spa, Byron Bay.

Bill Condie Journalist
After half a lifetime on Fleet Street, Bill Condie heard about the Global Village and decided to make it his own by becoming the Evening Standard's night editor out in Bangkok. He travels extensively through Asia and beyond and has learnt many useful things, the most important being that he must never, ever discuss the weather with the London newsdesk in February.
Reviewed The Sukhothai, Bangkok.

Tara Conlan
Tara is a journalist on The Guardian's media section and The Observer. She was previously TV Editor on the Daily Mail and has also written for the Evening Standard, The Sunday Times and Grazia. Nowadays her first question on arriving at a hotel is, 'Do you have a cot?' rather than 'What's in the mini-bar?' as she has a baby daughter.
Reviewed Town House, Marbella.

Amy Cooper Journalist

Reviewed The Bloomfield, Melbourne.

Giles Coren Restaurant critic and columnist, The Times
Giles has been restaurant critic of Tatler and The Independent on Sunday, as well as a regular columnist for GQ, The Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday and Match of the Day magazine. In 2005 he published his first novel, Winkler, and won Food and Drink Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards. Since then he has spent more time doing television, co-presenting The F-Word with Gordon Ramsay, hosting Movie Lounge, Five's film show, and the C4 food history series The Supersizers Go... He has also made several documentaries for Channel 4 on such subjects as obesity, bio-technology and latter-day cannibalism.
Reviewed Escondrijo, Costa De La Luz.

Christopher Cottingham , Music journalist
Chris grew up in Oman, trained as a molecular biologist, and then gave up science to become a music journalist. He now works for Q, The Big Issue and The Guardian, amongst others. While travelling the world interviewing musicians such as Kanye West, Jon Bon Jovi and Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones, he developed a taste for fancy hotels. Can you blame him?
Reviewed Murano Resort Marrakech, Marrakech; Jia Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Jo Craven Features editor, Vogue
In her role as features editor of Vogue, Jo Craven frequently agonises over the stylishness and suitability of hotels and travel destinations for the magazine. As a young mother of two, she also obsesses about two illusive ideals: travelling light and locating on-tap butler and nanny services.
Reviewed Son Brull, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

Ilse Crawford Designer and Creative Director, Studioilse
Ilse is a creative director whose company, Studioilse, has created Soho House New York, the Electric Cinema, and the influential Babington House. Other feathers in her cap include the launch of Elle Decoration in 1989, and a vice-presidency with Donna Karan Home (where she helped launch DKNY and Donna Karan Homeware). Ilse is also head of department at the renowned Design Academy Eindhoven. Her latest book, Home is Where the Heart Is, explores ways in which we can integrate our basic emotional needs into design.
Reviewed Château de Bagnols, Beaujolais.

Rob Crossan Travel and lifestyle writer and broadcaster
After surreal beginnings as a stand up comedian in South Africa, Rob came home to London in 2004 to work on a variety of men's magazine titles, including Loaded and Esquire, during which time he visited the most remote pub in the world, infiltrated a born-again virgins cult and ate dog. Sensibly deciding to make the leap into travel writing in 2007, Rob now writes regularly for Conde Nast Traveller, CNN Traveller, Financial Times Weekend Magazine, The Guardian, Daily Express and Time Out, as well as contributing regularly to the BBC Radio Four travel programme Excess Baggage and co-hosting the BBC podcast Ouch.
Reviewed Derwent House, Cape Town.

Tiffanie Darke Editor, The Sunday Times Style magazine
Tiffanie is an author, as well as a journalist, and has published two novels: Marrow, a saucy tale of food and sex in the kitchens of London’s celebrity restaurants, and Strapline, a story of celebrity, football, and love on a national newspaper. She considers herself an expert on dirty weekends.
Reviewed Ca Maria Adele, Venice; Capri Palace Hotel & Spa, Capri.

Andy Davis Writer
After several years of trying to become a big fish in the small pond of South African magazine publishing, Andy Davis quit and moved to a small fishing village outside of Cape Town to surf waves and catch his own big fish, for dinner. In pursuit of his own lifestyle through journalism, he wrests regular travel assignments from newspapers and magazines such as The Sunday Times, GQ and Men's Health. He covers contemporary SA culture for the Mail&Guardian Online, and has been known to multitask in the film, advertising and brewing industries. His passions (apart from searching out and riding the perfect wave) are African music and contemporary political vitriol.

Lucy Davis Actress
Most familiar to Britons for her breakthrough role as long-suffering receptionist Dawn in The Office, and for gracing the big screen in Brit-com gems such as Shaun of the Dead, actress Lucy Davis is no stranger to wry observation and bone-dry humour, making her an ideal reviewer for Mr & Mrs Smith. That and (obviously) some pretty high standards where beds, room service and cocktail bars are concerned… Lucy lives Stateside these days, and recently completed a spell on critically acclaimed US comedy Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Anna Davis Novelist
Anna is the author of four published novels, the most recent being The Shoe Queen. Her fifth, The Jewel Box, is due out in April 2009. Though these last two novels, set in the Roaring Twenties, are beautifully styled, laden with luxury and delivered with impeccable taste, Anna herself lives a typically unglamorous writer’s existence in an unfashionable corner of south London. So reviewing boutique hotels for Mr & Mrs Smith makes a pleasant change…

Jody Day Interior designer & writer
With more than 20 years experience at the top end of the lifestyle market, creating, marketing and writing about luxury, Jody is very happy to be at the receiving end of it when she’s away from home. With an eagle-eye for the cunning placement of light switches, and a delight in discovering the offbeat and quirky hangouts of new cities, Jody still can’t quite believe that she does this for a living, and so still takes the soap home.
Reviewed Be Manos, Brussels; Witt Istanbul Suites, Istanbul.

Paul De Zwart Director, Dhillon Hotels
From its launch in 1996 until 2002, Paul was vice-president and general manager of the Wallpaper* group and the creative advertising agency Wink Media. After that, he dedicated two years to developing a pan-European hotel/art retreat business, developing his knack for design hotels. He recently founded Zoet Ltd working for leisure and consumer publishing clients.

Nick DeCosemo Musician
As singer and synth whizz with electro outfit Freeform Five and a busy lifestyle journalist, Nick DeCosemo has seen more than his fair share of complimentary shower caps and body lotion. The general rule is that when Nick's on a writing job, the hotels are much better than with a band. With the band there are six of them and he always end up sharing with the sound guy.
Reviewed Riad 72, Marrakech; Thirty Two, Cotswolds.

Sophie Dening Professional weekender
Freelance journalist Sophie was one of the founder editors of Mr & Mrs Smith. She writes on UK travel and restaurants for Harper's Bazaar, Country Living, High Life and Square Meal.
Reviewed Putahracsa, Hua Hin; Aleenta Hua Hin, Hua Hin, and Lower End House, Worcestershire.

Stephanie Dennis Freelance producer/director
Stephanie started her TV career making cups of tea for Chris Evans at The Big Breakfast when it launched in 1992, and soon moved on up into the world of top-notch tacky TV: Blind Date, Gladiators, Pop Idol. Her career has taken her to some exotic spots such as Shepherd's Bush, where she was senior producer on Sky One's Fear Factor and more recently, Camden where she is co-executive producer on The Smiths' Hotels For 2.

Guy Dittrich Hotel marketing consultant
After a three-year stint as UK MD of Design, the specialist marketing company for contemporary hotels, Zimbabwe-born Guy now lives and works in Munich, from where he also writes about hotels for Condé Nast Traveller, Wallpaper*, The Guardian and The Observer, and files a regular column for Sleeper.

Tom Dixon Designer and creative director, Habitat
Tunisian-born Tom was a professional bass player and rap club promoter when a live welding act on stage at one of his events sparked an interest in design and craftsmanship. Despite his only qualification being a one-day course in plastic bumper repair, his eye for cutting-edge detail and flair for furnishings soon made him a name as the hottest avant-garde homewares talent. Today, iconic pieces by the Cappellini contributor, Habitat head honcho and Artek collaborator are found stealing the limelight in the world's most stylish spaces, from design museums to boutique hotels.
Reviewed Convent de la Missió, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

Sean Dixon Co-founder, Savile Row tailors Richard James
After several stints at high-end creative fashion companies, including serving as commercial director at John Galliano, Sean co-founded contemporary tailors Richard James 15 years ago. The company was largely credited for breathing new life into the institution that is Savile Row. Sean travels extensively for both work and pleasure; as a Londoner, he’s always happy to leave the city but just as happy to return. The only other city he’d consider living in is Tokyo, quite simply because it has the best service in the world.
Reviewed Haymarket Hotel, London.

Kimathi Donkor Artist
Having graduated from Goldsmiths among a generation of Turner Prize nominees and millionaire artists, Kimathi only realised later on in life that he’d been missing a trick by opting for humbler trades such as teaching, instead of single-mindedly seeking fame and wealth. Recently, he has tried to catch up – even provoking the Brixton constabulary into investigating ‘nudity’ at one of his exhibitions. However, his biggest regret is that he and his legal-eagle wife keep taking absurdly extravagant holidays, instead of fixing the boiler.

William Drew International editor, Arena
Will is the former international editor of Arena, the men's style magazine, as well as a freelance editorial consultant and writer. He divides his time between launching Arena in various far-flung territories, assisting other companies turn their random publishing ideas into print, and writing for The Times and The Sunday Times about anything from ‘ethical luxury’ to fake breasts. He has recently moved to the Kent countryside with his wife and three sons, from where can happily reminisce about his once-glamorous existence as a London style journalist. He is also a keen supporter of the world's richest football club… Manchester City.
Reviewed Jardins Secrets, Languedoc-Roussillon.

Kirsty Drury Fashion stylist
Kirsty Drury is no stranger to glamour and travel – no, she’s not a Page 3 model, she’s a jetsetting fashion stylist. Her first job was as a fashion assistant on GQ , although a few months later she jumped aboard the dance-music ship Mixmag where she remained fashion editor for many years, art directing editorial shoots in Tokyo, Miami, New York and Ibiza, grooming the likes of Kylie and Basement Jaxx; and staying up well past her bedtime a lot. A fashion-on-the-Web slot on The Big Breakfast was followed by lots of behind-the-scenes television work, image-fixing for many a star of the small screen. After a brief spell living and working in Rio, Kirsty is based back in London and busier than ever, but secretly dreams of running her own Smith-style stay somewhere sunny.
Reviewed Marari Beach Resort, Kerala; The Malabar House, Kerala.

Nick Dutton Advertising MD
Ad man Nick has been in the advertising industry in South Africa and England for the past 10 years, and is now MD of Euro RSCG. During his time, he has worked for a wide range of clients, from swanky car marques to fried-chicken takeaway chains. While his work and travels have seen him enjoy all sorts of hotels, guesthouses, tents and floors, his spare time is spent swimming, cooking, doing yoga and trying to be home on time to read his daughter bedtime stories.
Reviewed The Wheatsheaf, Northeast Somerset.

Neil Duttson Diamond dealer
Leading a trend in bespoke setting, Neil buys gems on behalf of clients and involves them at every stage of creating their jewellery. Before immersing himself in the closed world of diamonds, he organised events worldwide, from classic English weddings to hotel launches on the east coast of Africa.
Reviewed Columbus Monaco, Monte Carlo.

Louise Elliott Associate editor, Country Living magazine
After a lengthy stint as chief sub on Ideal Home, Louise freelanced on a range of magazines, as well as writing a beauty manual with Mary Quant for Dorling Kindersley. She found her dream job at Country Living magazine in 1996, a classic case of being in the right place at the right time. She became Associate Editor in 2002. She writes regularly on homes, crafts, arts and rural issues – but is still in search of the elusive moss-gatherer of the Welsh hills.

Chris Elwell-Sutton Deputy editor, Metro Life magazine
Chris Elwell-Sutton wrote for Dazed & Confused and Hip Hop Connection while he was a student, then worked for the late, great Smash Hits, and was deputy editor of Ministry, before becoming editor of Muzik. Since then, he has written for the Evening Standard, The Times, Esquire and FHM.
Reviewed The Drawing Room, Wales.

Ekow Eshun Artistic Director, ICA
A writer, broadcaster and commentator on art and culture, Ekow Eshun is the Artistic Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. He has written and presented several award-winning documentaries for TV and radio and contributes regularly to the BBC's Newsnight Review, The Guardian and The New Statesman.
Reviewed Puro Hotel, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

Tom Findlay Musician/DJ, Groove Armada
While touring and Djing as half of dance act Groove Armada, Tom has seen more than his fair share of hotels. He is currently putting the finishing touches to the latest Groove Armada album and preparing for the annual Lovebox summer festival in Victoria Park, of which he is a co-founder. Tom is also overseeing his latest project, the Tune Tribe music download site.

Liam Fisher-Jones Development director, RSC
Liam’s first brush with hotel management came when he was just three years old, and was caught having a pee behind the sofa of the future general manager of the Ritz. Now undisputed champion of all ‘Any chance of an upgrade?’ competitions, Liam has spent 15 years globetrotting on behalf of London School of Economics, and now as development director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, for which he spearheaded a successful £100m campaign to redevelop the estate in Stratford-upon-Avon. Due to the RSC’s charity status, Liam has only once drunk from a hotel minibar, but spends as much time as possible in his room to ensure value for money.
Reviewed Tuddenham Mill, Suffolk.

Angus Fontaine Writer/presenter

Reviewed Lizard Island, Queensland & Great Barrier Reef.

Elaine Foran Fashion and international publishing director, IPC
Headhunted to work at the Evening Standard while still a graduate trainee, Elaine moved to the Express Group in 1989, then in 1992 to New Woman. At 26 she became publisher of Elle, then international publisher for EMAP Elan. Since 2001, she has been in charge of titles such as Marie Claire, Living Etc and InStyle.

Zoë Foster Gallerist
The hectic calendar of the contemporary art world means that Zoë spends much of her time living out of a suitcase, following biennales, art fairs and exhibitions. With galleries on both sides of the Atlantic, combined with a Canadian Mr Smith with an Estonian passport, the grass is very seldom allowed to grow under her feet. But her all-time clear-diary favourite, when she’s not reviewing for Smith? ‘A lazy Sunday afternoon spent with friends in the pub, of course’.
Reviewed The New White Lion, Brecon Beacons.

Daisy Garnett Freelance journalist
Daisy writes features stories and reviews for magazine and newspapers such as Vogue and The Daily Telegraph, and spent eight years living in New York. She returned to London five years ago on a small sailing ship with four friends and wrote about the trip for the Design section of The New York Times. Her travels have ranged from camping in Bedouin tents (while riding by camel across the Syrian desert to Palmyra) to living it up at Rio’s Copacabana Palace. She wishes she could combine the two.
Reviewed One Royal Circus, Edinburgh.

Victoria Gill Editor in Chief, Luxos London
Victoria is a broadcaster, editor and writer, who has traversed six continents in search of the perfect turndown. Bathing with international courtesans, infiltrating the jetset, being sequestered in luxury smoking rehab, attending shamanic holidays, revisiting her LFW catwalk experiences, entering Second Life and being groomed to be a billionaire’s mistress are all in the course of a night’s work in her pursuit of jaw-dropping stories for global glossies, weekend supplements and award-winning TV companies. She is the author of a book on Fez and is currently working on her first novel.
Reviewed V Boutique Hotel, Cadiz Province.

Jo Girardet Hotel insider and aspiring novelist
Jo’s husband is a documentary maker and spends long periods working away from their home in Wales: her reward for these enforced separations is always a trip to a boutique hotel – a habit which has allowed her to rack up numerous stays in hotels over many years of marriage. Having worked in an award-winning hotel herself, Jo knows what will keep all Mr & Mrs Smiths happy. These days she is pursuing a career as a writer and hopes to have her first novel published in the not too distant future.
Reviewed Ffynnon, Wales.

James Giuseppi Yoga teacher and DJ
Born into a family raised in hotels, James Giuseppi witnessed the inside story – it’s incredibly hard work! The Nineties flew past in a blur as James jetted about the former Soviet Union selling stuff at stupendous prices; he later tried to save the planet by blessing the 'ethical investment' movement with his dubious talents. These careers lead to stays at a spectrum of sleeping establishments, including an HMP…. The rude awakening of redundancy has meant reduced income but heightened happiness with life as a yoga teacher and DJ.
Reviewed SwaSwara, Karnataka.

Joanna Goddard Journalist
Joanna Goddard joins our team with eight years of magazine experience, ranging from her time as editor-in-chief of Bene, an award-winning Italian travel magazine, to writing articles for Elle and New York magazine, to running a relationships blog for Glamour magazine. Her personal blog, Cup of Jo, covers fashion, design, photography, travel, and bikes (her favourite). Joanna was born in Paris, and now lives in Manhattan with her brand new husband and a lemon tree.
Reviewed Hotel Victor, Miami.

Casey Gorman Head honcho, Handbag
Casey moved from California to London in 2000 and worked for Escada UK before joining British accessories designer Lulu Guinness as head of sales and sales director. Two years later, Casey became one of the youngest CEOs in the luxury fashion sector, when she was asked to head up the global business of Lulu Guinness.
Reviewed Villa Sassolini, Tuscany.

David Grant Events guru

Reviewed Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef, Ningaloo Reef; Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island.

Marianne Gray Compulsive traveller
London-based freelance journalist Marianne specialises in film and travel, and gets to travel to cool hotels for her film work and swanky hotels for her travel work. By choice, when on holiday, she prefers to go to 'interesting' little pensiones, or far-flung, remote guest houses where the tone is distinctly tinted with local colour – providing they have running hot-and-cold and a mule (or something) to carry her luggage to the uppermost peak!
Reviewed Atlantic House, Cape Town.

Stuart Gregor PR and wine guru

Reviewed Bamurru Plains, Top End.

Ian Griffiths Writer, The Guardian
Ian Griffiths cut short a promising career at McDonald's, where he was glowingly described as ‘average’, to enter the murky world of journalism. He has travelled widely, penning pieces on Serbia, Peru, Germany and his home city of Liverpool for the Guardian. He works for guardian.co.uk.
Reviewed Le Couvent d'Hérépian, Languedoc-Roussillon.

Molly Gunn
Test-driving cars in Cannes, skidooing in Iceland, castle hopping in Scotland – Molly's done it all. Her highlight so far is a summer exploring every inch of Ibiza, and her jet-setting low point? Missing countless planes. It was a penchant for travelling – everywhere except on the Tube – that led the former ES Shopping Editor and Daily Telegraph fashion writer to forgo the 9–5 thing. Currently spending a grown-up gap year with her husband in Berlin, she’s on her way to permanent holiday status.
Reviewed Casa La Concha, Marbella.

Robert Hendrie Wilson Journalist and author
Robert is a life-long journalist and Fleet Street survivor who has spent the past ten years as travel editor of Britain’s largest-circulation women’s magazine. He is also the author of four published novels and of countless newspaper features and feature-series. He estimates that in the past decade he has visited some 300 hotels. ‘As a travel writer,’ he says, ‘you don’t get to pick where you stay, so sometimes it’s an absolute disaster. Other times it’s a dream.’
Reviewed The Levante Parliament, Vienna.

Ginny Henry Picture editor and jewellery designer
A rather nomadic career path encompassing fashion styling, shoot production and jewellery designing has led to Ginny spending a frighteningly large amount of time in hotels of varying repute. A confirmed city girl with a secret stash of deeply unflattering walking gear, she has very strict criteria about what constitutes the perfect hotel. In no particular order, they are: no sound from the room next door, staff who smile with their eyes as well as their lips, and a bar that knows what it’s doing whether it’s serving a wonderful negroni in a minimalist palace or a pint of Old Wallop by a roaring fire (damp dog non-negotiable).
Reviewed San Domenico House, London.

Victoria Hogg Writer and comedian
Victoria has been a journalist for over a decade, working for such esteemed titles as Sky magazine, The Face, Nova, Maxim, Muzik and thelondonpaper. The fact that all of these publications are now defunct is in no way related. Victoria also makes people laugh occasionally with the sketch group goldenanorak and her own stand-up routines.
Reviewed The Rutland Hotel, Edinburgh.

Jo Holden Journalist and market maker
No stranger to travelling the world and sampling fine hotels, as well as some not so fine ones on various backpacking trips around Europe, India and Asia, Brighton-based Jo has a passion for travel and new places. After working as a travel journalist in London, Sydney and Amsterdam, she now calls the South Coast city home. In between freelancing for Metro, Time Out and Brighton & Hove Life, Jo is the founder of East Sussex's very own Spitalfields, the Lanes Market, showcasing the city’s creative talent.
Reviewed Woolley Grange, Wiltshire.

Dominic Holland Comedian
Dominic is an award-winning stand-up, with a regular column in The Guardian and two novels to his name: Only in America and The Ripple Effect. His BBC Radio 4 series, The Small World of Dominic Holland, is being developed into a TV series that Dominic hopes will hit our screens sometime during his lifetime.
Reviewed Baglioni Hotel, London.

David Holmes Advertising Creative Director
In addition to two spectacular daughters, David has produced advertising campaigns for Kellogg’s, Brooke Bond Oxo, Unilever and Guinness. He has lived and worked in London, New York and Sydney, Australia. Never far from his iPhone and laptop, he day-trades – recession permitting – on the London Market, breathes life into classic cars and is currently losing the battle to persuade paint to stay on the walls of a 200-year-old house in deepest Andalucia.
Reviewed Diamant Hotel, Sydney; Tonic, Hunter Valley.

Shelly Horton Journalist

Reviewed Huka Lodge, Lake Taupo; Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses, Kaikoura.

Nick Hussey Producer, Nice Shirt Films
Today, he’s the executive producer of Nice Shirt Films, but Nick originally wanted to be a sports scientist. Since this involved tracksuits and pouring lager over his head, Nick turned to club promotion. Sick of Manchester’s gang violence, he entered the wine trade. Thousands of tasting sessions later he finally concluded that the filthy lucre of advertising was the only true path to hell. Nick lives in Wimbledon with his wife, spending his time going round in circles wearing lycra, looking for directing talent and not pouring anything over his head.
Reviewed The George in Rye, East Sussex.

Carrie Hutchinson Journalist
After four years working in London, Carrie Hutchinson returned to Sydney in 2000 (after the huge party that was the Olympic Games), and found herself contributing to many of the country’s fashion and lifestyle titles. She now is the deputy editor at Vogue Entertaining + Travel and a contributing editor for Wallpaper*.

Deborah Hutton Media spokesperson and ambassador

Reviewed The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, Hawkes Bay; The Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, Bay Of Islands.

Ben Illis Actor, travel writer and photographer
Ben is a self-confessed bon viveur and experience junkie. He has recently photographed London restaurants for Hg2 and contributed to their Madrid guide, as well as covering Burning Man, authentic rum production in Barbados and the edgier side of Rome. When not jetting around the world exploring new bars, restaurants and hotels (and experiences) he can often be found floating around in the Solent failing to catch fish or wandering along the river in West London in search of the next pub.
Reviewed Crossing Condotti, Rome.

Abby Johnson TV titles producer, Mr & Mrs Smith Design
One half of ‘the other Mr & Mrs Smith’, Abby and best friend Lisa Lloyd set up Mr & Mrs Smith (Design Ltd) in 2005. Their cutting edge design, marketing and animation studio produces bespoke title sequences for CH4, BBC3, T4, and E4 channels, as-well as designing marketing campaigns for the music and advertising industry. Abby and Lisa co-wrote their review as Mr & Mrs Smith though they dispute who’s the Mr!
Reviewed Soho House New York, New York.

Catherine Jones Journalist
Catherine has spent most of her life being sent to places and has the immunisation record to prove it. In the past, home has been Indonesia, Singapore, China and the US (twice). These days it's Hackney, which in many ways is as exotic as anywhere – only with slightly more rain. It was during a brief stint as editor of a budget airline's in-flight magazine that she realised the true wonderfulness of what it’s like to call travelling and checking in to some of the world's dreamiest hotels ‘work’. She hopes that Psychologies, where she’s currently employed as Features Editor, will ask her to launch an edition in Brazil, India or Turkmenistan (unlikely). Meanwhile, she stares at world maps wistfully while planning her next trip. Vladivostok is supposed to be good this time of year…
Reviewed The Crab & Lobster, West Sussex.

Toni Jones Associate Fashion Editor, The Sun
Having spent time working at her parents’ B&B as a teenager, Toni was so delighted to get to a point where she was the one messing up rather than making beds that she’s spent her adult life cultivating an addiction to hotels. Luckily, her job as a fashion editor means someone else often funds her habit as she styles and directs photoshoots in big, small, beautiful and sometimes downright strange properties all over the world. She's one of those weirdos that still reads the Guest Services pamphlets wherever she goes and she never tires of stealing freebies. Her ambition is to be one of those glamorous old dears living out their dotage in a suite at the Ritz.
Reviewed The Datai, Langkawi.

Rick Jordan Journalist
At the age of four months, Rick Jordan set sail for Sierra Leone with his parents, an epic voyage he has no memory of but has struggled to match ever since. He has written and sub-edited for Wallpaper*, Esquire and The Guardian, and is currently Chief Sub-Editor on Condé Nast Traveller. During his time at Vogue House he has stayed in hotels from Bangkok to Kerala, although his favourite hotel experience was in a rooftop hot tub in Manchester, overlooking Coronation Street. He wonders why ‘tea and coffee-making facilities’ is still a selling point in this day and age.
Reviewed Luxx, Bangkok; Puripunn, Chiang Mai, and Hospes Madrid, Madrid.

Mark Joy Marketing MD
Having spent the past 25 years working upwards of 50 hours a week in marketing, Mark and his wife like to use their vacations to unashamedly kick back and relax. Caribbean-holiday junkies, they have spent more than 15 years searching for the perfect small hotel in the region – somewhere that combines a great location with wonderful food and super-comfy beds.
Reviewed Laluna, Grenada.

Christopher Joyce Freelance writer and Tuscan host
Unable to face one more night in yet another Shoreditch restaurant, Christopher Joyce decamped to the wilds of northern Tuscany in 2003. His recent Sunday Times column, Tales from Tuscany, told the salacious truth about life in that rural utopia; he is now developing it into a book. With his partner, Adrian, he runs Borgo della Madonnina (www.borgo-lucca.com), a small estate with three smart rental cottages.
Reviewed Hotel Savoy, Florence.

Rory Keegan Nightlife entrepreneur
Founder and creator of Chinawhite and Taman Gang in London, and the Mao Rooms in Ibiza, Rory designs nightclubs throughout the world. In past lives he has been involved in fine art at Sotheby's, microlight aircraft in Wales, feature films in LA and theatre in the West End of London.
Reviewed Hôtel Le A, Paris; College Hotel, Amsterdam.

Emily Kerrigan Food writer
Emily writes for Olive, The Good Food Guide and Time Out and was features editor of The Great Australian Restaurant Guide in Sydney. She once visited 22 countries in two years during which time she slept everywhere from Rio’s Copacabana Palace and Raffles to a park bench in Patagonia with an itinerant drunk (he got over his hangover, flew her back to their London home and is now her husband). She has a thing for high-altitude city bars – if you’re ever both in Bangkok, she’ll buy you a beer at the Vertigo Bar.
Reviewed Ace Hotel New York, New York.

Jeremy Kinsman Former ambassador and political commentator
No stranger to grand hotels, Jeremy Kinsman has spent a lot of time in such establishments as a Canadian Ambassador for 14 years, based in Moscow, Rome, London and Brussels. A keen skier and hiker, he's always loved escaping the big cities to humbler hideaways. Having recently retired from a lifelong diplomatic career that included spells in Algeria, NY and DC, he now calls Vancouver Island home. But his days of poking his nose into other's political business aren't over; Jeremy's an international affairs columnist, broadcaster, and project director for the Community of Democracies.
Reviewed The Carneros Inn, Napa Valley; Poetry Inn, Napa Valley.

Juliet Kinsman Editor-in-chief, Mr & Mrs Smith
Juliet Kinsman helped develop Smith from a twinkle in James' and Tamara's eyes in 2002. She defected from dancefloors to do-not-disturb signs, having edited music mags in the Nineties and contributing to The Face and Time Out. Running a youth culture website during the pre-millenium dot.com frenzy and working on the BBC's homepage nurtured an understanding of the internet, but now that she shares travel secrets in publications from The Guardian through to Grazia, and having presented The Smiths' Hotels for 2 on the Discovery channel, her heart belongs to hotels. Born in Canada, with stints in Africa, America, Greece and India, Juliet now remains faithful to her home turf of Queen's Park.
Reviewed DD724, Venice; Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, and 60 Thompson, New York, and La Villa, Piedmont, and Bingham, London, and Hotel Yasmin, Prague, and Dar Ahlam, Ouarzazate, and Hotel Nautilus, Tábor, and Hawksmoor House, Garden Route & Winelands, and Rodwell House, Cape Town, and Romaneira, Douro Valley, and Cotswolds88 Hotel, Cotswolds, and The Chester Residence, Edinburgh.

Aun Koh Director, Ate Media
Aun is an experienced events, marketing and media professional, and has conceived and executed events for various organisations in Europe, Asia and America. He has worked for some of the world’s most well-reputed media properties, including the International Herald Tribune and Newsweek, and has also launched several publications, including EAST magazine, the Singapore edition of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Shopping! He is also the author of several lifestyle, travel and food books, including SingaporeChic, World’s Best Hotels (2005 and 2006 editions), The Six Senses Cookbook, French Classics Modern Kitchen and Chiva Som’s Thai Spa Cuisine.
Reviewed Amankora, Bhutan.

Anne Kornblut Political reporter
A jaded traveller in her day job as a political reporter for the Washington Post (previously, the Boston Globe), Anne Kornblut can usually be found in less-than-cutting edge hotels in places like Iowa and New Hampshire when she is not at home in Washington, DC. A graduate of Columbia University, New York, she covered the early years of the George W Bush administration, and in so doing had the pleasure of traveling to four of the six continents with the president (not exactly her ideal Mr Smith).
Reviewed Esencia, Riviera Maya; The Tides Riviera Maya, Riviera Maya, and Hacienda San Jose, Yucatán.

Laurie Kreisberg Design and brand consultant
Totting up many hours on planes and even more in hotels, Laurie has spent her career developing lifestyle brands around the world. A year spent travelling throughout Southern and Southeast Asia saw her laying her head on many a strange, new bed. She continues to engage in her passion for travel and design as an independent design and brand strategist at LK Consulting.
Reviewed Clift, San Francisco.

Karen Krizanovich Journalist, broadcaster and author
Karen Krizanovich lives to see new places and eat weird things. Her reviewing for Mr & Mrs Smith typically notes the unusual, the fashionable and the plain good. She is noted for her skill in re-stocking mini-bars, and scorns hotels which short-sheet the beds.
Reviewed Il Palazzetto, Rome; Casa Tua, Miami.

Amy Lagae Fashion editor and PR consultant
Amy has lived in Houston, New York and Palm Beach, always ending up with positions in either fashion or the arts: her true loves. A former Vogue staffer, she is now a freelance PR consultant, fashion ed for Palm Beach Society Magazine, an amateur cook, voracious reader and avid traveller. Her favourite job, though, is being mum to her three-year-old son.
Reviewed Shore Club Miami, Miami.

David Lamb Associate fashion editor, GQ
Also senior fashion editor of GQ Style, David has styled Justin Timberlake, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Craig and Clive Owen. His favourite place to be in the world is the English countryside, preferably with a pint of local ale at the end of a long, hot summer day; he is a self-confessed Anglophile, a country boy from Norfolk, and is married, with child.

Amanda Lamb TV presenter
At the age of 20, Amanda was discovered by Storm model agency and has advertised everything from knickers to pension schemes. After giving up modelling, but not the travel bug, she became the UK’s presenter of Channel 4 property programme A Place in the Sun, and has spent the past eight years journeying as far afield as Fiji and New Zealand, bedding down in both beautiful and downright grotty hotels. She has recently met and fallen head over heels in love with her very own Mr Smith, and is looking forward to working her way through every hotel in the collection with him.
Reviewed Castello di Vicarello, Tuscany.

Jeremy Langmead Editor, Esquire
After graduating from Central St Martins, Jeremy Langmead accepted a job as sub-editor on Mirabella magazine without knowing what a sub-editor was. He went on to edit the Life & Style pages of The Evening Standard, followed by the relaunched Nova, The Sunday Times Style magazine, and Wallpaper*. He has also written for Elle Decoration, GQ, The Guardian and The Independent.
Reviewed Morrison, Dublin.

Benji Lanyado Travel columnist, The Guardian
Benji Lanyado is the Guardian's budget travel columnist, and is also a regular contributor to the New York Times travel section. Most of his friends quietly hate him because of this. But he doesn't mind, really, because his mum will always love him. He spends his spare time feverishly updating his three Fantasy Football teams, writing (mostly) rubbish on a variety of blogs, and hunting down salt-beef sandwiches where he can get them. He dreams of one day representing Finsbury Park in a cross-London disco-thrusting competition.
Reviewed Azienda Agricola Mandranova, Sicily.

Summer Litchfield
Summer Litchfield grew up between a city farm in Vauxhall, the bright lights of Chelsea and the fashion hub of Milan, thus developing a love of cashmere, glitzy restaurants and all things rural. Having worked at Tatler and Esquire she is now the Restaurant Editor for Urban Junkies and a freelance journalist writing for The Times, The Telegraph and other publications. She has just started a blog, Platelicker, as another outlet for documenting life’s simple and extravagant pleasures.
Reviewed Sanderson, London.

Mia Ljungberg Travel consultant
A Danish resident in Sweden – and founder of travel consultancy firm Exuberant – globe-savvy Mia consults hotels and publishing houses on the latest trends in luxury travel. With a vast background in travel including a stint as a wedding magazine’s honeymoon reporter and as manager of a Copenhagen hotel, these days Mia spends half of her year traveling – and the other half living on a rose farm in Ecuador.

Lisa Lloyd TV titles producer, Mr & Mrs Smith Design
With best friend Abby Johnson, Lisa set up ‘the other’ Mr & Mrs Smith (Design Ltd) in 2005. Their design, marketing and animation studio based in Soho produces bespoke title sequences for CH4, BBC3, T4, and E4 channels, as well as designing marketing campaigns for the music and advertising industry. Abby and Lisa’s highly acclaimed work has been featured in Design Week, Shots, Promo, Televisual & Broadcast.

Emma Loach Documentary-maker
Being a stressed, working mother of three smelly boys and partner of a busy actor makes grabbing a few days away from hectic London life an absolute priority for Emma. For her, finding hotels that are suitable for children, but which aren’t ‘family-friendly’ (a tag that, all too often, is a euphemism for manic and noisy, with a surfeit of sticky surfaces) has become imperative to maintaining any semblance of sanity.
Reviewed Rectory Hotel, Cotswolds.

Hannah Lohan Designer
Formerly a freelance TV producer and director working on fashion, design and lifestyle shows, Hannah Lohan decided to leave the world of showbiz to start up her own company, which produced, designed and managed parties and events for a variety of clients. Now, she works as a freelance designer and event specialist. Her attention to detail and keen eye for stylish design makes her a great reviewer, as every aspect of a hotel – from the bedroom lighting to its bar food – will be closely scrutinised.
Reviewed P'tit Habibi, Marrakech.

James Lohan Managing Director and Founder, Mr & Mrs Smith
Managing director James Lohan is one half of the couple behind Mr & Mrs Smith. James’ first company, Atomic, created the infamous Come Dancing parties and club promotions. (One of his London parties, in 1998, was voted ‘number-one place to be in the world’ by FHM.) He built on this success with an events and party planning company in London, producing events for clients such as Finlandia vodka and Wonderbra. He then went on to co-found The White House bar, restaurant and members’ club in Clapham. Launched in March 2000, it is one of London’s hippest establishments. Since the conception of the book, James has visited almost 500 hotels.

Bryce Longton Travel journalist
After a brief stint within the guidebook industry (writing about dogs, no less), and many years as Editor-in-Chief of a ‘bitches and booze’ magazine in Los Angeles, Bryce traded in the daily cubicle grind for a life of planes, trains and automobiles. She’s done yoga from the balcony of five-star hotels in locales as varied as Tel Aviv, Florence, and Seoul, and hopes to add Istanbul and Shanghai to that list as soon as possible. A self-confessed foodie, she is always on the hunt for the following items: the best eggs Benedict, the best burrito and the best sashimi. The most memorable meal she’s ever had was in the Ardeonaig Hotel in Scotland, which, curiously, included neither eggs Benedict, burritos nor sashimi.
Reviewed The Tides South Beach, Miami; Oceana Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Palihouse Holloway, Los Angeles.

Jonathan Lukes Brand consultant
Erstwhile lawyer, editor and animator, Jonathan spent several years running TV stations for Time Warner, before launching his own brand consultancy, Rocket Psyence. Specialising in travel, media and the drinks industry, his favourite assignments let him research all three simultaneously. When not enjoying the trappings of hotel lobbies and airport lounges, he lives in London and San Francisco.
Reviewed Calistoga Ranch, Napa Valley.

Christine Manfield Dedicated foodie

Lucy Mangan Columnist, The Guardian
Star writer of The Guardian, with a regular column in its Saturday Weekend magazine, and author of Hopscotch & Handbags: the Essential Guide to Being a Girl. As neither she nor her boyfriend owns a passport, she has become something of a connoisseur of the many and various holiday and mini-breaking delights that the UK has to offer, and has yet to feel the need to seek further adventure abroad.
Reviewed The Bull Hotel, Dorset.

Christine Mansfield
Christine Manfield is a highly regarded Australian chef, author, food writer, food manufacturer, presenter, teacher and gastronomic traveller whose culinary work draws on the exciting tastes and flavours of many cultures. She’s been behind the Paramount Restaurant in Sydney and East@West in Covent Garden. Today, she continues to travel internationally as a culinary ambassador for Australia's gastronomy. Her books have spiced up the lives of keen cooks from Melbourne and Mumbai to Manhattan.
Reviewed Hotel Keppler, Paris.

Scott Manson Journalist
Scott Manson likes hotels, and writing about them, so who better to have as one of our chief wordsmiths (excuse the pun)? A former editor of Ministry, Loaded and BA’s High Life magazine, he has travelled the world with DJs, rock stars and supermodels. Sometimes he didn’t even have to carry their bags. He’s also a regular travel writer for the Evening Standard and a contributor to the Sunday Times Style magazine. Scott wrote our feature on great beach bars.
Reviewed Perivolas, Santorini; Astra Apartments and Suites, Santorini, and Riad Farnatchi, Marrakech, and Dar Les Cigognes, Marrakech, and Kasbah Tamadot, Atlas Mountains, and Hazlitt's, London, and The Forbury, Berkshire, and Fawsley Hall, Northamptonshire, and Dylan, Dublin.

Howard Marks Author, bon vivant
Howard’s experience of overnight accommodation is singular, following several years as an international fugitive staying in five-star hotels throughout south-east Asia; then nine years in European and United States prisons. For the past ten years, he has written travel articles for The Observer, Time Out, and The Daily Telegraph on South America and the Caribbean.
Reviewed Riad El Fenn, Marrakech; Masseria Torre Coccaro, Puglia.

Charles Martin TV director
A fearless six-foot-fourer with a penchant for late-night shenanigans and swashbuckling misadventure, Charles has crossed six continents developing his long-standing love affair with travel. For now, his social life and his award-winning work keep him in London. Having directed a few episodes of The Smiths: Hotels for 2, he went on to My Life as a Popat, as his Freaky series hit Channel 4.
Reviewed Les Terrasses, Ibiza, Balearic Islands.

Francesca Martin Features director, Harper’s Bazaar
At two weeks old, Francesca flew to her mother’s native Sweden and has wanted to cross the globe at least once a month ever since. She spent five years at Vogue, and now combines her role at Bazaar with editing the Arts Diary at The Guardian. She can often be found wringing out her soggy clothes at the Hay Festival, jumping the art queues at Miami Art Basel or interviewing celebrities by the pool at Chateau Marmont.

Jeremy Mascarenhas Publisher and bar consultant
Jeremy Mascarenhas has been publishing the London Bar Guide since the explosion of designer-bar culture in the Nineties. Having launched the London Restaurant Guide and with more titles on the way, he craves more than anything a day off: a Sunday morning in bed watching Hollyoaks, if truth be told.

Tabitha May Travel writer
After university, Tabitha veered from teaching ballet to working as a barrister, with a stint teaching English to young reincarnations of Tibetan Buddhist high lamas in a monastery in Darjeeling. Somehow, her pursuit of spirituality sits comfortably with her life-long passion for glamorous pan-global travel. She’s been around, in the nicest possible way, travel writing for The Sunday Telegraph, Eve and Grazia magazines.

Andrew McConnell Chef

Reviewed The Islington Hotel, Hobart.

Gareth McLean Writer, broadcaster, biscuit arbiter
After a Scottish childhood scarred by 'holidays' in Blackpool, Ayr, and countless crummy caravan parks, Gareth has (almost) erased the pain by treating himself to razzy holidays, glorious lunches and drinks in some of the world’s finest hostelries. For the last decade, he has made a living watching and talking about television and popular culture for publications including The Guardian, interviewing the likes of Liza Minnelli, Felicity Huffman, Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand and – in Monte Carlo, no less – Hugh Hefner and his bunnies. (Hugh’s, not Gareth’s). Gareth is now also a freelance biscuit-taster, aka writer.
Reviewed The Pelham, London.

Neil McLennan Lifestyle journalist
For more than 20 years, lifestyle journalist Neil McLennan has passed off having a good time as hard work at titles such as Time Out, ES magazine, Elle, Grazia and Marie Claire. When not supervising food shoots, nosing around homes of the rich and famous, flicking through glossy pictures and dining at fine tables, Australian-born Neil can be found travelling to boutique hotels all over the world, where he gens up on thread counts, premium-brand vodkas and indigenous spa treatments while accruing a fine collection of travel-sized grooming products.
Reviewed La Minervetta, Sorrento; Holm House, Vale Of Glamorgan.

Kay McMahon Digital director, Wallpaper*
Kay is a native of New Zealand, and sometime DJ (isn’t everyone?), who has been residing in London for the past 10 years. Several of those years were spent as the travel editor for Handbag.com, with the odd bit of writing for The Guardian and The Independent, before joining the ranks of her favourite magazine in 2007. Despite having two small children, Kay still flexes her travel muscle at every opportunity.
Reviewed The Olde Bell Inn, Berkshire.

Kirsten McNally Marketing guru
As founder of luxury, fashion and lifestyle marketing agency Brand Couture, Kirsten translates emerging consumer trends into brand experiences on a daily basis. In terms of hotels, Kirsten recognises that simple pleasures and personal touches go a long way with the modern traveller. In a world of increasing global fashion homogeneity, she celebrates Mr & Mrs Smith's eclectic mix of hi- and lo-fi places for every mood.
Reviewed La Maison du Frêne, Côte D'azur (east); Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos.

Paul McNally Writer

Reviewed The Louise, Barossa Valley.

Jim McNulty Yachtsman and tour manager
Whether staying in the Lost In Translation-featured Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo as tour manager for Fatboy Slim, or working as part of a crew decamping to a converted prison in Serbia, Jim’s twin passions of music and sailing have given him the chance to see the world. While his friends married, he travelled the Far East; when they were busy having babies, he was living in the Middle East. Now a partner in a successful yacht-charter business (the Barracuda is featured in our online Smith & Friends collection of self-catering properties), and a first-time father, he’s enjoying travelling incognito with his baby daughter Delilah and his own Mrs Smith, Sorcha, an interiors stylist.
Reviewed Barnsley House, Cotswolds.

Helen McNutt Freelance writer
During stints as a writer for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and Cosmopolitan, Helen has checked into a wealth of super-slick hotels. From walking in stilettos on a Monte Carlo beach, to having a gun pointed at her in South Africa, Helen has experienced some mind-blowing stuff in her time. She insists her best ever hotel memory is of a 70p a night mud hut on an Indian beach, though she admits she’s partial to the odd eye-wateringly expensive five-starrer on occasion too.
Reviewed Chewton Glen, Hampshire.

Felix Milns Freelance travel writer
A dedicated follower of fashionable hotels, Felix Milns has written for the FT and the Evening Standard, among others, staying everywhere from luxury safari camps in the Kruger to converted shipping containers in Bolivia. He also regularly appears as a travel expert on the BBC's Holiday 10 Best programme.
Reviewed Oundle Mill, Northamptonshire.

Nick Moran Actor
Born in London, Nick is best known for his film roles (most notably in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). His career has resulted in something of a world tour. 'I've got 14 visas from nine countries, and more air miles than Alan Whicker,' he says. As a result, he's no stranger to hotel accommodation. He has written for The Guardian, The Times and the Evening Standard; is the author of the award-winning West End play Telstar; and is narrator of The Smiths: Hotels for 2.
Reviewed L'Oustau de Baumanière, Provence.

Chris Morgan Film location manager
Chris spent his childhood in countless countries so it seemed a logical progression to slip into finding locations for feature films and TV commercials. Over the years he has worked all over the globe, from Northern Ireland and Thailand to Iceland and Argentina. His subsequent experience of a wide variety of accommodation and an eye for detail makes him a natural when it comes to giving the low down on hotels. He's still searching for that elusive film job which would allow him to indulge in his two passions of food and motorbikes.
Reviewed Viceroy Palm Springs, Palm Springs.

Amanda Morison Travel editor, Red
As a child, Amanda Morison was transplanted from the wilds of Dartmoor to sunny Swaziland. She spent three years checking into the world's most luxurious hotel suites as travel editor of Brides, as well as travelling the world for Elle, The Guardian, Business Life and High Life. Amanda helped compile our Smith & Kids section and wrote our features on essential family-travel accessories and essential family-travel tips.
Reviewed Talaa 12, Marrakech; Ksar Char-Bagh, Marrakech.

Matt Morley Writer and brand consultant
After a peripatetic educational career around Europe as a linguist, Matt eventually realised that staying put was just not his thing. With his teeth well and truly cut thanks to a stint at Quintessentially, he has since divided his time between writing for/editing magazines and working for Luxury Branding, a consultancy that specialises in travel and hospitality brands; all of which ensures that he is never far from his next frantic dash to a boarding gate. Just don’t ask him which way is home.
Reviewed Townhouse, Miami; 22, Cape Town, and O on Kloof Boutique Hotel & Spa, Cape Town.

Alex Morris Picture editor, Closer
Having grown up in various locations across London, Boston and Aberystwyth, globetrotting has always come naturally to style connoisseur Alex. Studying film in both Paris and Brighton led him into a career working on media and celebrity-focused magazine titles, including FHM, OK! and now Closer, where he became Picture Director in 2004. When he isn’t working his magazine magic, Alex’s idea of heaven is relaxing in the South of France whilst tucking into fresh sardines, washed down with an icy-cool bottle of muscadet: his perfect combination.
Reviewed Llety Bodfor, Cardigan Bay.

Roland Mouret Fashion designer
Having firmly established himself as a leading light in international design, Roland is recognised and praised within the industry and far beyond for his originality and his unique vision of women’s sensuality. Acclaimed for his catwalk shows from New York to Paris, that iconic Galaxy dress, and for dressing world-famous stars, Roland recently announced the launch of 19RM, a company jointly owned with Simon Fuller and part of the 19 Entertainment portfolio. In July 2007, Roland launched his new satellite collection of womenswear, RM, a range designed to ‘celebrate women’.
Reviewed Charlton House, Northeast Somerset.

Huz Mozaffar Designer
Huz whetted his cultural appetite studying fine art at Brighton University, after which he made a move into buying and product development. For the past four years he has been honing his skills at the Conran Shop. He considers himself to have the perfect job: he gets to travel the world, and find and design new stuff. His ideal getaway would be a trip to see the aurora borealis.

Danielle Nay Brand angel
Danielle never leaves home without her passport. Just in case. Known to friends, family and journalists as the Oracle, she has a photographic memory for global destinations and a mania for creating itineraries and packing lists in Excel. (Danielle has now read the other biogs and thinks she should mention that she is no bimbo and also went to Oxford.)
Reviewed Dar Zemora, Marrakech.

Gemma Newland Marketer
Gemma has spent more years than she cares to admit in the marketing and events industry. She travels so much that check-in staff at Heathrow now greet her by name! Gemma has a pathological dislike of large, purpose-built business hotels and has her own mental checklist that includes: Do the staff have a sense of humour even when I'm losing mine because the plane is late again? Can they make a great Cosmo? Is the hotel more beautiful than the shoes I'm wearing? Would I come here with the girls or my lovely man for a long weekend? Four yeses and they're on her (and our) hotlist.
Reviewed The Feversham Arms Hotel & Verbena Spa, North Yorkshire.

Anthony Noguera Editor-in-chief, Arena
Emerging as a fanzine writer, Anthony Noguera edited various music magazines in the Nineties before joining Sky and then FHM, where he became editor in April 1999. Under his editorship, it became the bestselling monthly in British history. He was named EMAP Editor of the Year in 1999 and British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year in 2000.

Charlotte Northedge Journalist/commissioning editor, Guardian
Previously a glossy magazine journalist for titles such as Cosmopolitan and Psychologies, Charlotte would go to any length to get her story: taking flamenco classes in Madrid, learning how to flirt in Amsterdam or even touring Elvis' favourite burger joints in Mississippi. Now a commissioning editor at the Guardian, Charlotte has interviewed celebrities in some of the world's swankiest hotel rooms, and has reviewed everything from five-star resorts to the UK's muddiest festivals.
Reviewed Grand Hotel Central, Barcelona.

Ellie O'Mahoney High-tailing hack

Having worked on the features desks of Marie Claire, ES magazine and Good Housekeeping, Ellie has had the opportunity to travel very far and very wide in pursuit of a good story, and as a result, has laid her hat in some very lovely rooms. She has crossed Europe on the Orient Express, visited the Star Wars sets in the Sahara desert and slept in the Australian bush (so what if it was less outback tent and more luxury cabin with Frette sheets and a plasma screen?) Now that she is combining journalism with working on her first novel, Ellie particularly loves the creative sanctuary of the Mr and Mrs Smith hotel room. She now finds she can't write unless she's wearing a fluffy robe and has just ordered room service.

Reviewed Riad Jahan, Marrakech; Number Sixteen, London.

Louiza Patikas Actor
Better known to Radio 4 listeners as Helen in The Archers, Louiza was brought up between Athens and Surrey, has lived in Paris and Bordeaux and now lives in west London. She loves the perpetual 'work in progress' of Athens and if she could bottle a scent, 'Eau d'Athènes', with base notes of car pollution and jasmine mixed with a whiff of cigarette smoke, she would.
Reviewed Londa, Limassol; Life Gallery , Athens, and Higher Westcott Farm, Devon.

Thalia Pellegrini Travel presenter
After years of jumping around in front of the camera on children’s television, London-based journalist Thalia decided to re-boot her career with a grown-up mission: to explore the globe. Now a worldly-wise travel presenter, regular reporting assignments mean she has had her fair share of hotels – good and bad. For Thalia, pure, smile-with-contentment relaxation comes in the form of a well-earned break with her Mr Smith. Preferably in a room where a wake-up call doesn’t pierce the airwaves at 5am with the words: ‘Sorry Thalia, the producer wants a PTC at sunrise. Can you be ready in 10?’
Reviewed Gidleigh Park, Devon.

Georgia Peters Producer, BBC Radio 4
Having spent the past six months sleeping in a different hotel bed every night, Georgia is fabulously qualified to judge the best place to slip between the sheets in style. Her latest trip took her from the sands of Salvador to the ruins of Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat, via skiing in Vail and (attempted) surfing in Nicaragua. When she's not skipping work to jump on a jet, she's a producer for The World Tonight programme on BBC Radio 4.
Reviewed Etnia Pousada, Bahia; Hotel G, Beijing.

Oliver Peyton Founder and chairman, Gruppo Ltd
Kicking off his two decades in the hospitality industry, Oliver masterminded the UK distribution of Japanese beer Sapporo, and turned the previously obscure Absolut into an ubercool vodka. The first of his award-winning restaurant ventures came in 1994 with the Atlantic Bar & Grill. He has followed that with Coast, Mash, Isola, the Admiralty in Somerset House and Inn the Park.
Reviewed Bulgari Hotel, Milan.

Alex Proud Gallerist and Music Venue Pioneer
Alex Proud is the founder of Proud Galleries – he opened Proud Central in 1998 and reopened the legendary Proud Camden in April 2008 at the magnificent Grade II Listed Horse Hospital in Camden’s Stabled Market. Further launches are planned in Brighton, New York, Paris and Tokyo. His Mrs Smith is Sunday Times Style columnist, TV presenter and author, Danielle Proud.
Reviewed Three Sisters, Tallinn; Hotel Tresanton, Cornwall.

Danielle Proud Broadcaster and journalist
(aka Mrs Alex Proud) is an interior design columnist for The Sunday Times Style magazine. Her first book, House Proud, hit the shelves in November 2006. She spent years cutting her teeth as clubs editor and assistant to the TV editor at The Guardian Guide. This gave her a good grounding in identifying comfy furniture and making mean martinis. These skills, coupled with her designer's eye and marriage to fastidious hotel snob Alex Proud, make her an ideal commentator on a place's suitability for R&R, as well as easiness on the eye.
Reviewed Hacienda de San Rafael, Seville Province.

Rosemary Purcell Forensic Psychologist

Reviewed Azur Lodge, Queenstown.

Mark Rae Music maker
Mark Rae began his musical career as a DJ in Manchester in the late Eighties before setting up the Fat City Records store and, in turn, the record label Grand Central. He was one half of the Rae & Christian act – together he and Steve Christian produced over 100 remixes for the likes of Nightmares on Wax, Texas and Dinah Washington, as well as recording two acclaimed albums – Northern Sulphuric Soul and Sleepwalking. Mark has gone on to make two solo records as well as to record under the name Yes King, with Rhys Adams, in Jamaica and London. Mark currently resides in Los Angeles where he is recording his third solo LP and writing numerous screenplays. Mark has travelled the world with his musical career and has taken in the delights of many hotels along the way.
Reviewed The Standard Downtown LA, Los Angeles.

Nick Raistrick Journalist
In the mid-Nineties, Nick was based in Prague but it got too cold, so he ended up living in Barcelona and Madrid, where he picked up Spanish and rediscovered his Middlesbrough accent. He currently works for the BBC World Service Trust, training journalists in developing countries like Somalia. His favourite destinations are Nepal, Guatemala and Borneo; he'd like to get paid to visit the Antarctic next, please.
Reviewed Hospedería Convento de la Parra, Extremadura.

Charles Rawlings-Way Travel Author
Having trained as an architect and worked as a barman in London (he was a master at putting the little shamrock atop a Guinness), cinema cleaner, croissant chef and deckhand on a fishing trawler, Charles gave up all that glamour to draw maps for Lonely Planet. Thankfully that lead him to travel writing and he’s since contributed to 15 of the company’s best-selling tomes. In his bottom drawer at home in the Adelaide Hills you’ll find a 320,000-word epic entitled The Great Unpublished American Road Novel. It is still unpublished.
Reviewed The Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart; The Priory Country Lodge, Central Highlands.

Charles Rawlings-Way Travel writer

Anna Richardson Broadcaster and journalist
Starting her TV life at The Big Breakfast in its heyday, Anna embarked on a seven-year career as a presenter for the BBC and ITV. More recently, she turned her attention to writing, and as executive producer for an independent TV company, created hit series such as You Are What You Eat for Channel 4.
Reviewed Can Curreu, Ibiza, Balearic Islands.

Rhymer Rigby Travel journalist
Rhymer's work has led him to investigate corporate espionage and the male beauty industry, and seen him eating deep-fried tarantulas in Cambodia. His tales have appeared in the Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer, as well as magazines such as GQ and Condé Nast Traveller. He lives in London with his wife and Monty the cat.
Reviewed La Fuente de la Higuera, Ronda, Andalucia.

Danny Rogers Editor, PR Week
Danny Rogers is a prolific commentator on consumer brands and the marketing of travel. A self-confessed 'media tart', he is a member of the Superbrands Council and regular contributor to The Independent, The Guardian and Travel Weekly. He spends far too much time in hotel bars, most of which he reckons ‘dreadful’.

Taryn Ross Founder, UrbanJunkies.com
Taryn has been sniffing out what's hot and not professionally for over a decade now. With travel in her blood, and three passports under her belt, Taryn lived in New York, Chicago, Vancouver and Barcelona, before moving to London to pursue a career in fashion. After a spell in fashion PR, Taryn founded UrbanJunkies.com, London's daily e-mag. In addition to her role as MD and editor of the website, Taryn edits MIDAS magazine, and is on the steering committee of On|Off, a unique art/fashion/design initiative during London Fashion Week.
Reviewed Atzaró, Ibiza, Balearic Islands.

Liane Rossler Designer

Reviewed Lyall Hotel and Spa, Melbourne.

Nathan Rous Journalist
Nathan Rous has been staying in posh hotels at other people's expense ever since he discovered the art of blagging. Even while covering the Bosnian conflict in the early Nineties he managed to arrange a luxurious weekend in Dubrovnik on the way home. He has now set up a PR consultancy to help travel companies prevent similar journalists from taking advantage. After all, it takes one to know one.
Reviewed The Rockwell, London.

Tamara Salman Creative director, Liberty
Half Iraqi, half British, textile and fashion designer Tamara ‘lived down the road from Babylon’ in Baghdad until she was 14, at home in two dramatically different cultures. The daughter of a pilot, the former Prada and Romeo Gigli employee’s path was supposed to be an academic one – her parents wanted her to become a doctor – but, fuelled by a love of creative expression and adventure, by 16 she was hightailing it solo through India. After moving to Britain, she studied art, and while doing so fell in love with fashion. Since her appointment as creative director of Liberty of London, she has revived and reworked the store’s iconic archive of prints to produce innovative new collections, including modern swimwear and accessories.
Reviewed Tigerlily, Edinburgh.

Darius Sanai Luxury philosopher, Condé Nast Contract Publishing
Editor-in-chief of Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Darius was born in Tehran, schooled at Westminster and further educated at Wadham College, Oxford. Formerly based in cities on three continents, he spent years working as a foreign and business correspondent before moving into the world of luxury. He’s also the UK editor-in-chief of the original LUX magazine (beware cheap imitations) and has his own consultancy, Editorialise, which advises on all aspects of luxury branding. He believes that as the media fragments in the online era, evocative brands like Mr & Mrs Smith will assume ever greater importance. Darius lives in central London, where he spends his spare time collecting wine and being bullied by his small daughters.

Margie Seale Publisher

Reviewed North Bundaleer, Clare Valley.

Poorna Shetty Freelance journalist
After a teacher praised seven-year-old Poorna's first story – about an ill-fated trip to Mangalore, India ('It smells') – she abandoned ambitions of being an astronaut for dreams of becoming a writer. Since then, as part of stints working as editor of Asiana and travel editor at The London Paper and in her current freelance role, Poorna has travelled the world. Woe betide the boyfriend who attempts to take her on a below-par minibreak; when it comes to hotels, she's about as Little Lord Fauntleroy as they come.
Reviewed The Brew House Hotel, Kent.

Ben Sowton Record-company head honcho, Seamless Recordings
After eight years in advertising, Ben co-founded events company Atomic, and then the White House members’ bar and restaurant in south London, before fulfilling a long-held ambition to set up a record label: Seamless Recordings, whose bargrooves series has been described by Wallpaper* as ‘achingly sophisticated’.
Reviewed Blanch House, Brighton; La Coluccia, Sardinia.

Mimi Spencer Journalist
Mimi writes on matters of style – fashion, beauty, food, celebrity, travel and the curious ways of the world. She is a columnist for Observer Food Monthly and for You magazine at the Mail on Sunday – and a contributing editor of Grazia and Observer Woman. She also writes regularly for The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar and the Evening Standard. Mimi edited ES magazine for several years before moving with her husband and two young children to Brighton – where she can see the pier from her desk and has a choice of 46 different yoga classes at lunchtime.

Oliver Stolle Editor and journalist
As an editor for Snow, the most avant-garde German snowboarding magazine of the late Nineties, Oliver travelled all the way from the Chugach Mountains, Alaska, to the southern Island of New Zealand. Now in his early thirties he knows, that a good hotel is more than just a warm and dry place to hide away from the next storm. At the moment Oliver is preparing travel stories for Neon and BMW Magazine in order to finance a new kitchen large enough to accommodate his love of traditional Bavarian recipes like Schweinshax’n and roasted baby goats.

Tan Su-Lyn Director, Ate Media
Tan Su-Lyn is one of the most established food and travel writers in Asia, and has contributed to Travel + Leisure, The Wall Street Journal Asia, Four Seasons Magazine, Gastronomica, Harper’s Bazaar (Singapore and Malaysia) and Town and Country. She is also an accomplished book editor, and has worked with many of Asia’s top chefs on a series of high-end recipe books. Tan Su-Lyn is currently completing her PHD in media studies. Her doctoral thesis is on the rise of the celebrity chef.
Reviewed Uma Paro, Bhutan.

Kayt Sukel Writer and whirlwind
Even travelling abroad for the first time, aged eight, Kayt realised there are hotels and there are hotels… And her subsequent travels have confirmed that the right accommodation can make all the difference. An American freelance writer based in Europe, Kayt writes regularly about travel, food and wine, as well as the fine art of international potty training. Her work has appeared in numerous travel publications and she regularly blogs about her adventures on websites such as Travel Savvy Mom and UpTake.
Reviewed Hôtel Duo, Paris.

Francesca Syz Journalist
British-by-chance – her parents came over from New York when she was just a twinkle in their eye and stayed forever – Francesca was born gumming a boarding pass. A contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveller, she has stayed at some of the world’s snazziest hotels but confesses she’d forsake a week in any of them for just one night in her Adirondacks log cabin. Francesca also writes for publications from House&Garden and Elle Decoration to the Observer and Saturday Telegraph.
Reviewed The Gore, London; Casa de Madrid, Madrid.

Alice Taylor Vice president, BBC Worldwide
A Londoner at heart, computer game and broadcasting whizz Alice currently lives in Los Angeles, but is plotting a future move to Mumbai. Or maybe Tokyo. Possibly Barcelona. Alice doesn't like staying still, and anyway, the best video games are always found across the pond somewhere. When not playing games or haranguing television executives about the future of media and technology, Alice is usually found blogging, speaking at international conferences and worrying about her carbon footprint.
Reviewed Avalon Hotel, Los Angeles.

Christopher Tennant Cultural commentator
Born and raised in the leafy suburbs of Boston, Christopher currently lives beyond his means in New 
York City. He knows a little something about high-end hospitality. In fact, he wrote the book on it. The 
Official Filthy Rich Handbook, his tongue-in-cheek, cradle-to-grave guide to fitting in with the international overclass, took him to boutique hotels far and wide. 
In a previous life, he worked as an editor and writer 
at titles including New York magazine, Talk, the New York Post’s ‘Page Six’ column, and Radar, the pop-culture magazine and website he co-founded in 2003.
Reviewed The Bowery, New York.

Anthony Thistleton Architect
Anthony Thistleton established Waugh Thistleton with Andrew Waugh six years ago, just when Shoreditch was emerging from hibernation. Their work includes Cantaloupe, the Light Bar, the White House in Clapham and the Northern Light in Leeds. The practice now numbers 14 partners, with projects ranging from artists’ studios to large-scale developments.
Reviewed Amberley Castle, West Sussex.

Sarah Thomas Journalist

Reviewed Bells at Killcare, Central Coast.

Simon Thomsen Food critic

Reviewed Royal Mail Hotel, The Grampians.

Sigrid Thornton Actor

Reviewed Qualia, Queensland & Great Barrier Reef.

Nigel Tisdall Travel editor, Marie Claire
Nigel’s globetrotting career began one wet Monday morning in 1985 when he went to London’s Liverpool Street station and caught a train to Hong Kong. Since then, he’s been roaming all over the world, writing principally for The Daily Telegraph and its weekend companion, The Sunday Telegraph. Currently travel editor of Marie Claire, he’s constantly checking into hotels. The best? ‘A tent in Antarctica – until it blew away.’ The worst? ‘A candle-lit lodge in the Peruvian Amazon, where I just happened to spot a cockroach on my toothbrush…’
Reviewed Square, Brighton; Hôtel Daniel, Paris.

Simone Topolski Travel journalist
After a brief incarnation as a furniture and jewellery designer, Simone decided to swap workshops and toolboxes for boutique hotels and matching luggage, and entered the world of travel journalism. After several years of struggle, someone finally decided to pay her for it and she’s since explored the globe on behalf of Psychologies, Condé Nast Traveller and The Sunday Telegraph. When not scribing for her supper, she can usually be found snoozing in a hammock in the Mexican rainforest or making fire with her bare hands somewhere in Sussex.
Reviewed Hospes Palacio de los Patos, Granada; Coconut Lagoon, Kerala, and La Purificadora, Puebla.

Philip Treacy Milliner
If hats were a country, then Philip would be royalty. As a child in the west of Ireland, he was obsessed with his mother's sewing machine, and eventually studied for an MA in fashion design at the Royal College of Art. He went on to design hats for Lagerfeld at Chanel, Gianni Versace, Valentino and Alexander McQueen, winning five British Fashion Designer of the Year awards in the process. He was recently created design director for the interiors of hotel The G in Galway.
Reviewed Château de Massillan, Vaucluse, Provence; Mirabó de Valldemossa, Mallorca, Balearic Islands.

Oliver Tress Retail whizz, Oliver Bonas
Oliver Tress is the brains behind the Oliver Bonas chain of lifestyle stores; since its launch in 1993, more than ten shops have sprung up across London. Oliver started out importing fashion goods from Hong Kong for friends. His next trick will be international expansion.
Reviewed Samling, Lake District.

Robert Triggs Environmental lawyer
After repeated false starts, Robert finally ditched corporate law in the Big Smoke in 2004 in favour of the more right-on field of environmental law in Bristol. Although he has regular pangs of longing to pack in the legal career and set up a hotel at the back end of beyond, for now Robert is happy to indulge his itchy feet; getting his travel fix from jaunts for Mr & Mrs Smith instead.
Reviewed Raheem Residency, Kerala.

Laetitia Trouillet Fashion designer and personal shopper
French-born Laetitia Trouillet lives and works in Morocco, after seven years in London, where her designs were first spotted at Portobello Market; her lalla brand (www.lalla.fr) can now be found in Paul & Joe in London and Le Bon Marché in Paris. When she isn’t producing and selling bags from her new-town showroom, she guides shoppers round the souks and boutiques of Marrakech.

Matt Turner Editor, Sleeper
Matt joined Mondiale Publishing as a trainee on Night magazine, became editor within three years and spent the next five years visiting party capitals Paris, Rimini, Milan, Ibiza, Miami, Las Vegas and New York. At Sleeper since 2002, he now spends even more time checking out contemporary hotels, and gets a lot more sleep than he used to.
Reviewed The Setai, Miami.

Helen Veale TV producer
Helen Veale is a TV producer who, together with Laura Mansfield, runs Outline Productions, the TV company responsible for the series based on the Mr & Mrs Smith guidebooks, along with hit parental-guidance programme The House of Tiny Tearaways. Before setting up Outline, Helen was a freelance producer-director, and she has always enjoyed indulging in huge amounts of Italian food and wine.
Reviewed Villa Bordoni, Tuscany.

Paul Von Bergen Entrepreneur and spiritualist
The first three years of Paul's working life were spent in the corporate world, travelling between a seemingly endless succession of Alan Partridge-style business hotels, so he knows very well what a hotel should not be. On the other hand, numerous stays at extravagant Chuff Chuff hotel venues also means that Paul knows how to spot an after-party room when he sees one. After running a marketing consultancy, and an up-market erotic boutique, Paul is now embarking on a spiritual journey by driving a bus around Australia seeking inspiration.
Reviewed Establishment Hotel, Sydney.

Benjamin Von Eckartsberg Illustrator and comic- and artbook author
Benjamin von Eckartsberg is a German freelance illustrator and comic- and artbook author living in Munich. He has won several prizes, for example the Sondermann Prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the best German graphic novel 2005. Being published also in the French-speaking parts of Europe, he has seen a lot of hotels on his book-signing tours of Germany, France, Belgium and Switzerland. So he knows to value the benefits of a hotel that knows how to create an environment where its guests are far-removed from being cattle in a stable.
Reviewed Anna Hotel, Munich.

James Wallman Freelance journalist
What on earth do you do with an Oxford classics degree? No, James Wallman had no idea either. A decade of ski-guiding, travelling and advertising later, he found journalism and, ah, happiness. He’s worn man-scara for the Guardian, skied Kashmir for CNN Traveller, and been frozen to -120ºC dressed only in his underpants for the Telegraph. He also writes on trends and luxury, and has a futurology column in T3 magazine.
Reviewed The Oberoi, Mauritius.

Mark Watson Comedian
An author and stand-up comedian, Mark Watson has the sort of tour schedule that typically sees him in hotels for at least 100 nights a year. He's played at every major comedy festival and in more than 25 countries, and in the process has stayed everywhere from the majestic (the Melbourne Westin) to the spiritually crushing (the Durham Travelodge), with an awful lot of 'Do not disturb' signs and wrangles over internet tariffs in between. He likes hotels with a combination of flair and efficiency. He deplores establishments that don't have your room ready until three in the afternoon, yet call at exactly 10 the next morning 'reminding' you to check out.
Reviewed Red Capital Ranch, Beijing.

Keri Webb Marketing guru
Keri has travelled extensively in the last ten years, firstly as a clothing production manager in Africa & the Middle East and more recently from working within travel industry where she helped to develop marketing campaigns for boutique and personalised tailor-made travel experiences. Her background of both quality control and marketing the best in personalised travel make her highly qualified to help Mr & Mrs Smith "cherry-pick" the very best boutique hotel memories. Finding the unique little touches that demonstrate the very highest service standards whilst retaining charm and personal service is a challenge Keri always relishes. And who can blame her.
Reviewed Ichibi Lakeside Lodge, Garden Route & Winelands.

Rory Weller Journalist
After ten years as a freelance journalist in the heady days of rave, Rory decided in the late Nineties that he couldn't spend much more time reminding DJs what country they were in that day and keeping photographers out of prison so got a proper job as features editor of Metro Scotland. On recent travels he's discovered that you can have road rage on a beach in Daytona, that it's useful to have a tabloid journalist handy if you're going to drown in the Gambia and, when in the Canadian Rockies, prairie oysters are a terrific jetlag cure and taste best cooked over an open fire.

Jori White Director, Jori White PR
A decade since she founded it, US-born Jori’s firm is one of the UK's leading lifestyle PR agencies. Her client list includes 34 magazine, Zuma and the Cinnamon Club. Jori has hosted many glamorous attention-grabbing launches, including parties for Sir Michael Caine and Sir Roger Moore.
Reviewed Pershing Hall, Paris; Royal Crescent Hotel, Bath.

Jim Whyte Freelance journalist
Jim Whyte spent ten years in marketing before fatefully asking The Guardian to send him somewhere cold. He was promptly dispatched to Siberia for the winter to file a series of travel articles. After requesting somewhere a bit warmer for his next assignment, they sent him to ride a camel across the Sahara. Now reacquainted with a far more stylish and comfortable form of travel with Mr & Mrs Smith, Jim is resolutely sticking to his first loves of yachts, sundowners and Italian ice cream.
Reviewed Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza, Seville Province.

Benji Wilson Journalist
A laughable two-year stint in advertising that began back in 1998 filled Benji with enough bitterness and bile to write a letter to Private Eye. He has been writing for them ever since, reviewing books and television programmes, and occasionally ratting on his friends for financial gain. His main interest, both at home and professionally, is television – he interviews celebrities and writes features for Radio Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer. On the rare occasions he can be prised off his sofa, however, he writes travel pieces for Condé Nast Traveller, The Sunday Telegraph and Arena.
Reviewed Driftwood, Cornwall; St Regis Hotel, San Francisco, and Hotel Healdsburg, Sonoma County.

Daven Wu Freelance journalist
Once upon a time, Daven Wu was a corporate lawyer who spent his days filling in time sheets and making other people rich. He soon saw the extreme error of his ways and took up a new life as a freelance journalist. He now writes about food, travel, architecture and interior design for Time, Travel+Leisure, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Monocle. He’s also a contributing editor at Wallpaper*.
Reviewed Palazzo Barbarigo, Venice.

Lucy Yeomans Editor, Harper’s Bazaar
Lucy Yeomans became features editor of Tatler in 1997, and deputy editor a year later. On her first day as features director of British Vogue, she was offered, and accepted, the position of editor at Harpers & Queen. That was in November 2000; since then, Lucy has transformed the magazine – now rechristened and redesigned – into a glamorous super-glossy.
Reviewed Continentale, Florence; Blakes Hotel, London.

Josa Young Executive editor, Condé Net
Josa Young was born in a four-poster bed and has been trying to get back into one ever since. Married for twenty years this year, and with two teenagers and a wild six year old to show for it, she is a writer and editor with special expertise in upmarket internet content. She has written and edited for Vogue, Tatler, Harpers & Queen, The Times and The Telegraph – and is currently executive editor, Condé Net, responsible for all the online glitz and gloss at publishing house Condé Nast.
Reviewed Queensberry Hotel, Bath.

Eric Yu Managing Director, Breakfast Group
Hong Kong-born Eric trained as a chartered accountant before purchasing London nightclub Villa Stefano in 1991, and transforming Jimmy’s Bar into Bar Rumba. His company (named for the wee small hours his business thrives during) is now behind the Substations, Jerusalem, Social, POP, Social Nottingham, Opium and Grand Central.
Reviewed Ickworth, Suffolk.