Are you a Hedonist?

Hedonism   /heedoniz’m/  “The philosophy that pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life.” OED 
      
Hedonism gets a bad rap, but what could be more applicable to a city break than the pursuit of pleasure, pure and simple?

Our brand of hedonism taps into the spirit of Whatever Works for You – from chic boutique hotels to well-kept-secret restaurants locals don’t want tourists to find out about. We do not mindlessly seek out the most expensive; instead, we search high and low for the absolute/very best a city has to offer. Of course there is always a side order of great bars and hot clubs – but you’d demand nothing less. If this strikes a chord, Hg2 is for you. Inspired? Click here to go to our guides.

Hg2’s roots

Hg2 is a business born from the frustration founder, Tremayne Carew Pole, felt after an abortive attempt to find a genuinely good bar in Budapest.

After Budapest-gate, he had a Pauline conversion, recognising that many people experience the same disappointment with traditional guides, he decided to create a new type of city guide – produced especially for those who appreciate the finer things in life, combining engaging destinations and stylish design with unsurpassed local knowledge and truly independent reviews - the ultimate handbook to a city break.

A little about us

First there was Tremayne (Tremayne@Hg2.com), Hg2’s founder. Armed only with his certainty that a new type of guide was needed, he moved to Prague to research and write the first guide before commissioning the rest. Along the way he’s worked and partied harder than he ever has before. And that’s saying something. He’s also developed something of an addiction to John Varvatos. As you can imagine, Tremayne spends a lot of time travelling and loves nothing more than taking off into the unknown – most recently to Sierra Leone.

Then there was Sara (Sara@Hg2.com), Hg2’s marketing director. Sara and Tremayne were at primary school together in Cornwall. After stints at Flemings, Brunswick and Hoare Govett, Sara escaped the City to join Hg2 when the first books launched in 2004. Sara has travelled far and wide, spending a few revelatory years living in Bahrain, and loves any sort of holiday that involves a well-earned drink at the end of the day – be it a shopping trip to New York or wadi–bashing in Oman. With Sara comes the office Labrador, Tamar, who is predictably more interested in cats than clubs. 

And along came Ben (Ben@Hg2.com), Hg2’s sales director. Ben’s chequered past includes stints as an actor, writer, editor, photographer and book buyer as well as co-founder of Old Street Publishing. As a travel writer, he has written and edited for Frommers, Mr and Mrs Smith and The Irreverent Guides. He is rarely happier than when pounding the streets of a new city, camera in hand, or trekking through leech-infested rain forests in search of some obscure piece of wildlife, provided, of course, that there is a decent cocktail and some crisp sheets (high thread count, Egyptian cotton, natch) to crawl between as reward for all his hard work.


And Nick makes 4. Nick has just joined the team. A talented designer, he is going to make the books and site even better looking.

Our guides are written by a wide range of journalists, read about them here.

We also retain updaters in each city, who feed back reviews as and when new places open up ensuring your guides never go out of date.