Audi: May 2007

The Mr & Mrs Smith hotel guides have revolutionized our weekends away.  We meet the couple behind it – Mr and Mrs Lohan, in fact.

It all started in a dodgy B&B in the Lake District.  They had spent days scouring guidebooks, hours driving up the motorway, just seconds realising their hotel was dreadful, then further hours looking for a restaurant when the dodgy B&B declared they had arrived too late for food.  Their only option was Pizza Express.

'We scribbled down our ideal weekend on a piece of paper when we were in the restaurant,' remembers Tamara Heber-Percy, who co-founded the Mr & Mrs Smith hotel guides with her husband, James Lohan.  'We noted all the things that the perfect hotel would offer: truthful marketing photography – God knows who took the shots for our B&B; lovely, comfy beds; and discreet, round-the-clock room service.  The B&B wouldn't even whip us up a sandwich.

'We decided to start our own book – it coulnd't be that difficult,' she says, with a laugh.  'A guide with frank and humorous reviews, gorgeous photography ('that still leaves room for surprise,' interjects Lohan), and useful extras like restaurant recommendations and a decent map.'

Just weeks later, they were on the motorway again: 'We took January off and drove the length and breadth of the country,' says Heber-Percy.  'In one month, we saw 150 hotels.'  These had already been narrowed down from a shortlist of more than a thousand.  'But only 41 made the cut.'

It seems lunacy in hindsight, but the couple had a tough time convincing publishers that their book would be the next big thing – so tough, they decided to publish Mr & Mrs Smith themselves.  They have now sold more than 150,000 copies.  It's the bible for anyone planning a luxury weekend away.

So what makes a Mr & Mrs Smith hotel?  'A cosy pub that serves up a great breakfast is more likely to make it into the book than a famous five-star hotel,' says Lohan.  'There's nothing we hate more than snotty waiters and intrusive service – "Sir's wine is one corner of the room and sir's water is in another." I can pour my own wine thank you!'  His wife agrees passionately: 'Value for money, uniqueness, wow factor – these are all things we look for; somewhere that stands out.  It's got to have great bedrooms, too.  Let's face it, jaded city couples spend most of their time in the bedroom anyway – we love baths big enough for two, a resting place for your wine glass, versatile lighting and iPod docking stations.'

And their favourite hotel? 'Endsleigh House in Dartmoor,' they say in unison.  'It's stunning,' says Heber-Percy, 'romantic, discreet, laid-back.  They wouldn't bat an eyelid if you didn't leave your room all weekend.'  Overseas, the Royal Malewane in South Africa's Kruger National Park gets their vote.  'We went there on honeymoon,' says Lohan.  'The attention to detail is amazing – they even give you hot water bottles to put under your rug on game drives.'

Having also published Mr & Mrs Smith European Cities and Mr & Mrs Smith European Coast & Country, you'd think they had the weekend away totally covered.  But scheduled to launch online are Mr & Mrs Smith and Kids and Mr & Mrs Smith and Friends, as well as a new book, Mr & Mrs Smith 52, for global events every weekend of the year (see www.mrandmrssmith.com for details).

With all their experience in some of the world's best – and worst – establishments, surely the couple would make the perfect hoteliers?  Would they ever consider opening their own place?  'We couldn't possibly comment.'  Sounds promising.