Director: November 2004

ROOM FOR TWO

When you want a stylish hotel for that romantic break, where do you turn?  Raul Peschiera asks a couple with the enviable job of testing them out

When James Lohan and Tamara Heber-Percy drove towards their romantic weekend getaway, starting a business together was the last thing on their minds.  But as they approached the "grand lakeside castle" they had picked from a guidebook, what materialised before them was a thoroughly ordinary hotel.  Instead of simply feeling duped, they were inspired - to publish a better guide,

"It all started with us having a supposedly romantic weekend away in this chintzy hotel and getting frustrated that we couldn't find a guidebook with what we wanted," says Heber-Percy, who also runs the County Register dating agency.  Last year they launched their joint venture, Mr & Mrs Smith, with a guidebook of the same name, listing 41 of the most stylish hotels in the UK and Ireland.  The next book - Mr & Mrs Smith: European Cities - is out soon and Lohan, the managing director, is expanding the brand to include a concierge service and even a music CD.

His guiding principle is to offer what he himself would appreciate.  "We give tips like: 'Eat at the Dog and Duck but book 10 days in advance or the locals will have reserved all the tables for Sunday lunch and you'll be in the Beefeater.'  We try to fix the things that can go wrong, before you get there."

They certainly did something right with the first book, with sales six times more than their target, registered Smith cardholders reaching more than 10,000 and revenue totalling £400,000.  Part of their success lies in showing couples how to make the most of their time on the a short break.  "We're very protective about the brand and then way it is represented," says Heber-Percy, adding ambitiously: "We want to own weekend."

Although the beautiful photography makes the books suitable for a coffee table, Lohan puts little spin on how he expects them to be used.  "Obviously it's a modern-day dirty weekend," he says.  "Whether you're romancing your wife or having an affair - whatever, it's for everyone, because everyone is a Mr & Mrs Smith.  When you're away as a couple, you have very different experiences to the traditional Clipboard Charlie inspectors - I've always had this vision that they're grey in the face, wearing a black suit, sitting at the back of the restaurant taking notes over their prawn cocktail."

Lohan and Heber-Percy make a point of being the first to scout the hotels under consideration.  Reviewers from the media, arts and entertainment worlds then visit anonymously and write up their experiences in a relaxed, anecdotal style.  "We have an architect, bar owner, chef, club owner, magazine editors and a music producer," says Lohan.  "We've even had the ubiquitous rock star.  They are all people who appreciate what these hotels have to offer and write intelligently about them, in a fun way."

As eclectic as his writers might appear, Lohan, 33, has a varied background himself: he has been a DJ and a press officer, and continues to work as an event manager for Atomic Events as well as co-founder and manager of the White House members' club in London.  "I dropped out of A-levels and went to art college," he says, "so I had my first job when I was 17.  I think it teaches you different disciplines."

He and Heber-Percy are in the midst of moving into a houseboat in Chiswick, west London.  "We had a lovely four-bedroom mid-Victorian terraced house and just got bored of it," says Lohan.  "This thing actually moves.  It's an old 27-metre barge and we brought it across from Amsterdam under its own steam.  It's nice to go back to the river, have a gin and tonic and look at a swan."