Grant Thatcher

Grant Thatcher is the Founder and Publishing Editor of LUXE City Guides . Founded 9 years ago, and with 35 titles across Asia, Europe, the USA and the Middle East, they are the savvy travellers' secret companion. Described by Vanity Fair as "compulsory in-flight reading" and by the The New York Times as "achieving near cult status," LUXE City Guides feature only the best a city has to offer. Grant oversees the design, development, writing and editing of every guide, maintaining that unique LUXE combination of smart content and throwaway wit, with their iconic and unique covers. A passionate traveller, he is always on the look out for the unusual, truly local and bespoke.

Frustrated with the lack of up to date guidebooks and out of date lifestyle information on the market when he moved from Hong Kong to Bangkok in 1999, Grant realized there was a large gaping hole in the travel guide market. No-one was telling him what he really wanted to know. Nowhere could he find stylish information that cut to the chase and told it like it was.

Upon Grants return to Hong Kong in 2002, he began to write his LUXE list of insider advice, for himself and his friends, combining his personal colloquialisms with a unique no-faff brevity and zero padding; no need for photos or maps. This list of "the best of the best," heaving with entries featured in no other guide, began to make the rounds by email. It then proved so popular, he decided to take the plunge and publish under the name LUXE City Guides . And so the LUXE brand was born, organically and naturally! No forceps required. Not one to conform, Grant came up with the discreet, lightweight concertina format for the guides, perfect for shirt pocket, jeans, handbag and evening clutch alike.

Grant Thatcher was born in Bristol, in the UK and studied at RADA in London. He resides in Hong Kong, and is a director on the board of The Society for AIDS Care, and the Academy Chairman of the Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan judging panel for UKs S. Pellegrino Worlds 50 Best Restaurant Awards.