HotelChatter

hotelchatter: hi

smith_hotels: Hi there.

hotelchatter: how are ya?

hotelchatter: so is this a good time to chat?

smith_hotels: yes! This is totally new to me/us by the way. Over here we usually like to conduct things by telex <joke>

hotelchatter: ok, so who are  mr. & mrs. smith?

smith_hotels: Mr & Mrs Smith is anyone who goes away on a romantic weekend and wants to escape their banal life and have a sexy escape... In terms of us, James Lohan and his other half Tamara Hever-Percy had a dicey weekend away at a disappointing hotel a few years ago and the seed of inspiration was sewn... They put together a team of friends and experts...

smith_hotels: I think I was the first person they spoke to about how At the time there were no guides out there for people like 'us' (style-conscious, time-poor 20- or 30- somethings who wanted to know where to go and what to do for a weekend away) and I came on board as editor

hotelchatter: got it.  so Mr & Mrs Smith are the hipster everycouple looking for a little european hotel romance, right? 

hotelchatter: Seems they have more in common with the screen Mr & Mrs Smith (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie) then we suspected....

hotelchatter: http://tinyurl.com/92vns

smith_hotels:There is definitely an aspirational element -- escaping for the weekend to a glamorous hotel, living the movie-star lifestyle for a stolen couple of days!

hotelchatter: Who actually reviews these hotels for you?

smith_hotels: In terms of our actual reviewers, we have an interesting bunch of folk who play dirty and stop out in the name of duty. We have lots of respected magazine eds and travel writers, but not all are professional journalist -- each is someone whose opinion we trust. We like our (anonymous) reviews to be like getting the 'inside story' from a best friend...

hotelchatter: so you procure the hotel information that goes into these books from friends and fellow travel editors?

smith_hotels: No, we find the hotels and then send our reviewers away to enjoy -- we hope! --a wonderful weekend. And just like a mate would, we steer you to the best bars and restaurants etc and tell you everything you need to know to have a great escape! Previous reviewers have included Stella McCartney, designer, Rory Keegan who owns infamous London club, Chinawhite, Felix from dance music band Basement Jaxx, etc etc...

hotelchatter: ah.  so you hand pick reviewers, ask them to go to a certain hotel, and let you know what they think.

smith_hotels: Sorry, I just got distracted then -- someone in the office just told me we're currently outselling Hip Hotels four to one! How terribly unBritish of me to be so immodest. Apologies.

smith_hotels: 'R.I.P. Hotels' James just chipped in. Only kidding!

hotelchatter: no worries.  so you are kicking some Ybma ass.  congrats

smith_hotels: Ok, so selecting the hotels: we get bombarded with brochures and pleas to look at hotel websites, but only a teeny fraction make the cut.

smith_hotels: It's hard to summarise what makes a hotel 'Smithy'... I guess it's a combination of style, quality, first-class service, individuality. 'Boutique' is of course a hugely over/misused description, but that's kind of our area of expertise. Once the hotel has our seal of approval we send our reviewer anonymously, yes...

hotelchatter: how many hotels are included in an "edition" (I am guessing editions are annual?)

smith_hotels: Our first book: UK/Ireland had 41 hotels and European Hotels had 33 -- it's much harder than you might think to find ones that are right!

smith_hotels: We've only published two books -- the one which come to your shores end of Feb. We launched our third collection European Coastlines exclusively online at the start of September and that's growing all the time -- around 30 something

smith_hotels: We are currently compiling our third book, although we haven't decided on the exact name... along the lines of coast to country (European resorts)

hotelchatter: so your books are a collection of "Smithy" hotels in different european countries--do all the "Smithy" hotels get good recommendations?  Are there instances when you send a reviewer to a hotel and they think it was kinda drab, so you can't use it in the book?

smith_hotels: Yes! Goodness, of course... I have personally vetoed a few in the last couple of years... L'Hotel in Paris didn't feel quite right... I stayed in one place in Ibiza which was lovely but not really extraordinary enough... another one I visited in Jersey ended up being on a main road and all I could hear was traffic all night - yikes! Obviously there's always going to be an element of subjectivity

hotelchatter: heh. Jersey.  Can't quite see a Jersey hotel in your books--plus Jersey is outside Europe==what gives?

smith_hotels: As in the Channel Islands not Billy Joel territory!

hotelchatter: ah, never thought Jersey would get lost in translation

smith_hotels: re the Jersey this side of the Atlantic-- it's where my grandparents went for their honeymoon. When I went witha friend in Sep we were the onnly ones on the plane who had hair that wasn't grey! Didn't fill me with much hope that we were heading to the perfect place for Smithy weekend awayers!

hotelchatter: Here in the US, no one honeymoons in Jersey.

hotelchatter: do you guys pay your own way when you go?  do you pay the reviewers way? 

smith_hotels: We pay for their whole trips, yes, of course... but we don't pay a fee for them to review. They do it because they like being 'part of the Smith family' and they get a fab weekend away with their other half!

hotelchatter: oh, they get to bring a guest.  wow. that is cool. 

smith_hotels: We're all about romantic weekends so it's actually a prerequisite reviewers go with their lover/spouse/mistress!

smith_hotels: OK, so sometimes there's a little poetic license given -- or else they come up with a fun story; a little variety is good eg our reviewer for the Lydmar took his wife's best friend

hotelchatter: so how can someone become a "reviewer" do you apply?  do you have to be hand picked by you guys?  Is there an "apprentice" like competition?

smith_hotels: Ha! If I had a penny for each time that question has been directed at me, I'd be one rich chicolita...

smith_hotels: I'm always happy to read cuttings from writers/would-be reviewers who think that they could capture our style of first-person anecdotal reviews though... email me!

hotelchatter: where should they send their "audition tapes"

smith_hotels: I'm not opening that up to the world mind -- we generally like to use people who are somehow linked to us or the company directly but I'm certainly not a writing snob

hotelchatter: ok. got it.

smith_hotels: My friend Jason is a fashion stylist and probably uses a computer as frequently as Paris Hilton uses food coupons... and he still wrote one of the best reviews on a hotel in Italy.

smith_hotels: his punctuation may have needed a little tidying up, but the main thing was his personality and voice came through and it was an entertaining account of a stay at that hotel

hotelchatter: Italian hotels--now there is a topic.  Italian hotels have taken a beating on HotelChatter this year--mostly for shoddy service--I guess The Gray in Milan is one you guys would recommend.  Do you find that certain countries "get" good hotels more so than others?

smith_hotels: Oh goodness me, yes! Actually one of the main problems whe researching our Coastlines collection was the very cavalier attitude to service on the Continent...

hotelchatter: ok, final question

hotelchatter: your favorite hotel of the moment?

smith_hotels: Re Italy -- one of the best hotels I've ever stayed at was JK Place in Florence (and it's not just because it shreas my initials!).. they had the perfect combination of anticipating your needs, catering to your every whim, without being too 'in your face'

hotelchatter: thank you so much for taking the time

smith_hotels: My pleasure!

Juliet Kinsman image via travelintelligence.net