Conde Nast Traveller: May 2004

Something for the weekend

With dozens of British hotel guides available, which ones offer the best choice of venue for a last-minute bank-holiday break?  Kate Maxwell inspects three

Britain is at its best in May:  this is the month to pack the car and head off on a long-weekend break.  But just as the choice of home-grown hotels is now greater than ever, so the range of guidebooks to aid selection of any good bookshop and you will find yourself confounded by the number.  It makes sense, then, to understand a guide’s remit before trusting your weekend to it.

It was with this in mind that James Lohan, a 33-year-old nightclub owner and entrepreneur, was prompted to produce Mr & Mrs Smith, which he describes as ‘modern-day guide to the ultimate dirty weekend’.  Lohan says he was constantly falling out with his girlfriend (and co-founder) over where to go for romantic breaks.  ‘I wanted to create something that would look good on a coffee table and could be read in bed, that listed the best room, restaurant table and advice on the local area other than hill-top rock formations,’ he says.

The result is a collection of 41 hotels in the UK and Ireland in the mould of Babington House:  chic, unstuffy places with stripped wood floors, roll-top baths and an absence of chintz.  Each hotel was visited by an undercover couple (‘aspirational people who have influenced the lifestyle of the readers’), among them fashion designer Tracey Boyd and gallery owner Alexander Proud, and the idiosyncratic accounts of ‘Mr & Mrs Smith’s’ stay span up to six pages with tantalizing photographs.  The reviews are interspersed with tips such as ‘how to play strip poker’.  Overall, it’s an amusing read that has the effect of making one feel something of a voyeur.  But even Mr & Mrs Smith isn’t as independent as it might appear – hotels make a one-off payment for the privilege of being included, which goes towards printing costs.  Each book comes with a membership card entitling guests to treats, such as a bottle of Champagne at participating hotels.  The downside is that with all this information – personal to Mr & Mrs Smith’s stay though it may be – there won’t be many surprises on arrival.  And, precious as weekend breaks are, there should be room for the unexpected.

Mr & Mrs Smith (020 7978 1000;  www.mrandmrssmith.com).