{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Homing","title":"James Lohan: the co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith on how his first experience of home shaped an obsession with boutique hotels","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3992,"description":"This is the first time we’ve recorded an episode in a hotel suite, and that’s because today’s guest knows more about opening doors to glamorous guesthouses than anyone else. James Lohan co-founded the travel company Mr & Mrs Smith with his wife Tamara back in 2003, and since then he’s visited nearly 4,000 hotels in the name of research. James is a gregarious character with some brilliant tales to tell.We discuss his earliest experiences as an entrepreneur, from selling cheese toasties at school, to setting up a mobile disco called Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It. He tells me about his refurbishment of a Dutch barge on the Thames – complete with flock wallpaper and a freestanding bath – and what he’s learned from hotels that we might apply to our homes.This episode was recorded in person at The Nomad Hotel, London.For more:Check out Mr & Mrs Smith Visit The Modern House websiteFollow Matt Gibberd on InstagramFollow The Modern House InstagramWatch our Homing In films on YouTubeProducer: Hannah PhillipsEditing and mixing: Oscar CrawfordMusic: FatherGraphic Design: Tom Young and Ben TuckerThis episode was sponsored by Vitsoe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/jfhTOve5zkBU-4TRtFPERWb8yNLRKVKLKahjrWvoDdk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wNWNk/YTE1NTI1ZWQ0NjI1/MTBhNDlkOWY1ZTU1/OGM1YS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}