Interview with Tamara Heber-Percy, Co-Founder of Mr & Mrs Smith

Tamara Heber-Percy, co-founder and marketing director of Boutique & Luxury Hotel Specialist Mr & Mrs Smith, talks about how the company came to life, membership benefits, future plans, and five hotels that are too special to not visit again, and again, and again.

Erica Johansson: How did the company come to life? When did you first get the idea to Mr & Mrs Smith?

Tamara Heber-Percy: My partner (now husband) and I were always looking for great hotels for weekends away – we both ran our own businesses so weekends were precious. Unfortunately, none of the guidebooks out at the time represented the kind of hotel we were looking for, so, after a few disastrous trips where we were disappointed the moment we arrived, we decided to write our own guidebook. That Christmas we received more than 2,000 brochures through the post from hotels around the UK and in January we embarked on a mammoth drive around the country to check out 200 that we thought looked special. Of that 200, 41 made it into the first Mr & Mrs Smith Hotel Collection.

Initially, we’d thought of selling the idea to a publisher but none would take it – we got the usual rebuttals – ‘market too saturated’, ‘no one needs another guidebook’, etc. So we set up our own publishing company. We pleaded with a distributor to take us on and he predicted we’d sell 5,000 copies, so when we’d already sold 15,000 within a month of printing, we knew we were on to something.

I must say your books and CDs are terrific. Were the products a part of the initial plan?

The books came first. The CDs were a later addition. My husband James used to be a DJ and also ran his own bar and club, so he is passionate about music. Mr & Mrs Smith developed very organically, as we began to understand what the possibilities were. For example, we only started taking bookings when we realised how much business we were giving the hotels. We were visiting a hotelier we had met two years previously when signing hotels up for the first book – we asked him how it was going and he looked at us incredulously: ‘My God, you have no idea do you?’ he said, ‘You guys are 40 per cent of my business!’ It was amazing to think that people didn’t just like our books as coffee-table browsing fodder, they were actually using them to pick out their next hotel stay.

For someone who considers becoming a member, what would you say to convince them to… take the plunge? What are non-members missing out on?

Well, we’ve tried to make our first level of membership, BlackSmith (£15/$30), a ‘no-brainer’ decision. Whenever a member books a hotel through us, they show their card on arrival and get a little life-enhancing extra: a bottle of chilled champagne, a spa treatment or afternoon tea for two – it varies from hotel to hotel, but is ALWAYS worth a lot more than the membership fee.   We wanted to ensure Smith membership makes sense even if you only stay in one of our hotels once a year.

Members also benefit when they get home – they’ll find a deposit of Smith Pounds in their account as part of our unique and super-generous loyalty scheme, The Vault. We’ve designed this so that even a two-night booking will give the member enough Smith Pounds to treat themselves to one of our hand-picked ‘Vault Valuables’ – luxury goodies from brands we love such as Agent Provocateur, Links of London and Mulberry.

Once a month we put together some amazing offers from our hotels (such as two nights for the price of one), exclusively for our members, which we mail out to each member in our e-newsletter, Room Service. But even if a member isn’t taking advantage of a special offer, they’re still safe in the knowledge that our rates are guaranteed to be the same as or lower than the rates they’d get directly from the hotel.

Basically, if you don’t like champagne, amazing hotel deals and treating yourself for free, then Smith membership is definitely not for you!

How are you able to guarantee the best rates available?

That’s simple – we make it a stipulation for hotels wanting to work with us. Aggregator sites such as Expedia and Lastminute may discount more as part of a package that includes flights and car hire but if you are just booking the hotel we should have the best rates available. If any customer finds cheaper hotel-only rates elsewhere we refund the difference.

When you select which hotels to include in your collections, are you visiting the hotels in the pretence of being regular guests? Or have your reviewers ever accepted complimentary stays in return for exposure?

We initially visit a hotel to determine whether it’s suitable for Smith so we let them know we’re coming – this is so they can give us a tour of the property and let us see as many rooms as possible (which you can’t do if you go anonymously). If the hotel is ‘Smithy’ enough to invite into the collection, we then send an anonymous reviewer couple. They get to experience the hotel as it really is. We make sure we send couples so we get a balanced view, and we don’t tend to send them midweek – we’re all about romantic weekends away, after all. We never allow a hotel into the collection unless the anonymous review comes back positive. The hotels do pay a fee to be part of our collection – after we’ve scouted them out – but they cannot pay their way in.

What can members and other Mr & Mrs Smith fans expect in the future? Any current plans you’d like to reveal?

We are launching in the USA at the moment; it’s a very tough time to do so, but we are doing it organically, with a book we created especially for the States – we are not spending money on offices out there so I think our strategy is sound. We have also just signed a deal with someone in the Asia-Pacific region who will be setting up offices there. This means that our Travel Team will have 24-hour worldwide coverage – so you can book a hotel through us at any time. We also have some exciting plans for new book titles – but that’s a secret!

Last, I’m curious to know, what are your 5 top favorite Mr & Mrs Smith hotels?
I love hotels, but I am also addicted to new experiences so there are few hotels I would choose to go back to but the following are so special that I would jump at the chance:

The Royal Malewane safari lodge in Kruger Park, South Africa – this is where I spent my honeymoon. It’s set in a private game reserve, and every room has a pool; we woke on the first morning to find a giraffe drinking from it. The people who run this place are amazing and make you feel so special.

Ca’s Xorc in Mallorca – I got married here. When we found this hotel for Smith, my husband and I turned to each other and agreed we wanted every single one of our friends to experience the place. I was born in Mallorca so it has a special place in my heart, and the views from Ca’s Xorc are incredible.

Blakes in London -it’s Anoushka Hempel’s original boutique hotel and still a favourite. No fancy spa or corporate meeting rooms, just the perfect romantic atmosphere.

Hacienda de San Antonio in Mexico is a working hacienda set on a coffee plantation. The scenery here is stunning, with volcanoes, mountains, and jungle greenery. It’s a splash of luxury in the untouched heart of Mexico.

Fazenda da Lagoa in Bahia, Brazil, is on it’s own island in the rainforest where freshwater meets the sea; you have to take a boat ride through the mangroves to get there. There are 11 stunningly designed bungalows right on a white sand beach that seems to go on forever. This is one of the few places in the world where you feel totally alone.

For more places to stay including affordable stylish hotels and luxury ski chalets, head over to Mr & Mrs Smith. And don’t miss Smith Travel Blog, where they share insider travel tips, interviews and top 10 features from around the world.