Spread Art Culture: July 2009

In the Mood for Room Service

Mr. and Mrs. Smith is the ultimate concierge service for luuuurve.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith assimilates the classic dirty-weekend pseudonym as a wink to peripatetic amorous couples everywhere, providing an exclusive hotel concierge service like no other. Erudite in the important area of romantic escapes with your other half, they are true arbiters of taste, and indeed human nature of the hedonist variety. (With something added for the luxury-loving stoics, too.) Both their sleekly designed guide books and website, which was rated in The Independent's "Top 50 Travel Websites," offer a miscellany of information about the most stylish and individual places to stay around the globe. Mr. and Mrs. Smith even offers a membership program to ensure you get the best room at the hotels they feature, plus a few extras thrown in - whether a massage, a bottle of Champagne, or some true inside scoop about the surrounding area. Intrepid photo and art agents Ben Cox and Carol Alda, editor Ken Miller, and illustrator Ben Wachenje visited the Haymarket Hotel in London, the Jupiter Hotel in Portland, Oreg., and Hotel Lumen in Paris to sample the goods.

The HAYMARKET HOTEL stands as an oasis of calm amidst the general madness of its amazingly central location. There's a sense of being in on a secret when you find the elegant but understated entrance off one of London's busiest thoroughfares, and as you walk in, you feel your heart rate start to ease. The lobby sets the visual tone for what Tim and Kit Kemp have done with this grand old Regency edifice. The style is contemporary, but with a lavish use of vibrant textiles and luxuriant furniture that delivers a considered nod to the area's 1820s heritage. A Junior Suite features a spacious lounge, two bathrooms, dressing room, and bedroom - larger than many London apartments. - Ben Cox

Portland has gained a reputation over the past few years as a hotspot for design innovation. The happily re-imagined JUPITER HOTEL serves as a perfect time capsule of the city's visual trends of the past half century - retro cool and up-to-the-minute hip. Locals have developed an affinity for the hotel's bar and subterranean rock club the Doug Fir, which hosts an array of touring musical acts, from Dinosaur Jr. to Lady Sovereign. After a show, everyone can just wander upstaris to the lounge and restaurant, which serves upscale diner grub in an enticingly kooky Jetsons meets Twin Peaks setting. Best of all, guests can then stumble right across the parking lot to their own room. The hotel was once a notoriously sketchy local motor inn, and its renovation has been key to the blossoming of the Rose City's revitalized Lower Burnside district. One night in the hotel's casually comfortable accommodations, which feel so straight out of Mad Men that you might wake up in a fedora and necktie, and you will no doubt feel revitaized as well. - Ken Miller

The HOTEL LUMEN's location in the centre of Paris could not be more perfect for both business and pleasure, only a few short blocks from the world class shopping on the Rue Saint-Honore. I don't beleive there is a better city than Paris to sleep off a hangover or a better hotel do so than the Lumen. Lying in bed under an art deco headboard, with the floor to ceiling window opened to a dainty balcony overlooking the Rue de Pyramides, the city soothes even the most roaring migraine. Equally relaxing is the hotel's restaurant, Le Passage Saint Roch, which offers traditional French cuisine in a charming courtyard, tucked on an alleyway hidden behind the neighbouring St. Roche church. The same intimacy extends to the few blocks surrounding the hotel in the 1st Arrondissement - sipping coffee at a local cafe, you don't feel like a traveler or foreigner but a local. I returned to my room and decided that I would reside at the hotel Lumen during my next stay. - Carol Alda