SCM: October 2006

The Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection took the guidebook world by storm when it was first published.  Three years on, the concept is going from strength to strength and is about to star in its own TV show.  Alex Elder discovers the brains behind the secret.

Calling itself the 'definitive boutique and luxury hotel directory', the Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection was founded in 2002 by James Lohan and girlfriend Tamara Heber-Percy, who, in search of a romantic weekend away, arrived one Friday night at a hotel they had booked in the Peak District on the basis of a guidebook recommendation.  Only it looked nothing like the description they had based their booking on, nor did it live up their expectations.  'James and Tamara arrived quite late and the hotel couldn't even rustle up a sandwich for them,' says Mr & Mrs Smith editor Juliet Kinsman, relaying the story.  'They didn't know where to go in that village for dinner, because they didn't have the information.  The two of them realised that "no one is creating a guide for us".'  The 'us' being thirtysomethings and beyond, who want their stay in a hotel to be as integral a part of a night away as the location itself, with the information packaged into an upmarket, stylish guidebook.  Not long after the disastrous weekend, the pair had hired two editors and, after hawking the idea to various publishers and receiving an enthusiastic but financially disappointing response, set up their own publishing company and filled it with like-minded people.  'We are very much a family that they created,' says Juliet, 'they chose people who were experts in the field, and people who had a lot of energy and who believed in the concept.  It's just incredible how fast James and Tamara got things done.  I first met them in November 2002, by January they were on the road visiting hotels, and by October the book was out.  The first book was a labour of love for all of us,' continues Juliet, 'it was a gamble.  I had a day job, as did co-editor Sophie Dening, so we worked on our computers round the clock to get it done.  James really broke the mould in guidebook publications.  It bridged the gap between coffee table publication and user-friendly guide.'

Its 'coffee table' status is thanks to the sleek design and ambient photography, by Bloom Design and Adrian Houston respectively.  'They're trailblazers in their field,' says Juliet.  But it's guidebook-sized and thus designed to be thumbed through by people eager to find somewhere special to take a loved one.  With its useful 'Need to know', 'Food & drink' and 'Worth getting out of bed for' sections, it's particularly popular as a present: 'I bet every Mr & Mrs Smith in the country has been given one,' laughed Juliet.

The hotels are chosen on the basis of research carried out by the company, which is then whittled down to a list of hotels which reviewers visit anonymously.  'We don't just want a bunch of journalists,' says Juliet, 'we want people who are visionaries in their field, and who are likely to stay in these hotels.'  And so, in the latest publication, Philip Treacy, Oliver Peyton, Raymond Blanc and Stella McCartney ('probably the least anonymous of our reviewers,' chimes in Aline Keuroghlian, marketing and PR manager) have all written about a hotel.  Mr & Mrs Smith makes no bones about the fact that hotels pay money to appear in the book, 'but they can't pay to get in,' says Aline.  'We're a small publishing company, and we need that income to finance great photography and reviewers being able to visit anonymously.  People ring up all the time wanting to pay to go in but it doesn't happen, they have to go through the whole process.  We can go through the process with a hotel and still decide that it won't go in, and that costs us a lot.'  'There was a hotel in Paris,' adds Juliet, 'that cost €900 for one night's dinner and room.  That's reason enough for it not to go in.'

So what is the essence of a Mr & Mrs Smith hotel?  'I get asked that all the time,' says Juliet, 'and it's hard to pin down.  It needs to have that wow factor, something special.  Guests need to feel relaxed and at home, so it might be very traditional and classic, but it has to have great service and deliver a fantastic experience.'  'If you know someone has done something in good faith,' adds Aline, 'you know it's likely to have a good result.  The people who own the hotel have to have a passion for it.'

Mr & Mrs Smith has produced three guidebooks so far (the third, European Coast and Country, £19.95, Spy Publishing, is out in October) and a travel show, The Smiths' Hotels for 2, is soon to air on Discovery Travel & Living.  How it will compare to programmes such as long-established The Holiday Programme, or more recent reality TV effort Holidays Undercover remains to be seen.  'We're not scripted,' says Juliet, 'it's me and Andrew Grahame, the publishing director at Spy Publishing, behaving exactly as we would walking into a room and saying "I love that" or "I don't love that".  There's no cheesy shots of us having cocktails at the end.'

The globetrotting guidebook has recently seen hotels in China, Australia and South Africa added to its listings, and has spawned many imitators.  All that remains to be asked is, where next Mr & Mrs Smith?

The Smiths' Hotels for 2 premieres on Discovery Travel & Living Sundays at 9pm from 24 September, www.mrandmrssmith.com/tv