Close encounters of the guidebook kind This morning, I had what I thought was an extraordinarily encounter. Guide book writers may be more acquainted with it than I am. But, to me, it just didn’t make sense. I am currently in Bath, researching a city guide for a major Australian newspaper. As part of that, [...]
Continue reading about Lesson for hoteliers: How to disappear from the guidebooks and lose customers
In recent weeks, I have been writing a few city guides, which means that I have had to visit a lot of hotel websites in order to get contact details. On the way, I have encountered some phenomenally irritating sites, but that of the Hotel De Las Letras in Madrid was the straw that broke [...]
Continue reading about How to make a really bad hotel website in ten easy steps
I’m sure many travel writers have encountered a situation where they have been offered a ‘media rate’ by hotels, airlines and tour operators. And I’m sure many of us have struggled to know how to word the most appropriate response. Well never fear – just alter the details on this template letter to suit your [...]
Essen business hotel Last weekend, I stayed in the InterCityHotel in Essen, Germany. It was a perfectly pleasant business hotel, handily located for the central train station. But it did one thing differently that pleased me enormously. Fruit juice for breakfast Call me a glutton, but I like to drink more than a thimbleful [...]
Continue reading about Petty Gripes: #3 – Little glasses at breakfast in hotels
I’ve been a little slutty recently, and contributing to a couple of other blogs. Ironically, given my little hissy fit about ‘character’ accommodation yesterday, I’ve picked out a place I’d happily pay to stay at for 101Holidays.co.uk. My choice is the Hunter Valley Cooperage in New South Wales, Australia, which I visited last November. It’s [...]
Twitter confessions An interesting bout of shame-faced confession broke out on Twitter a week or so ago. A few travel writers – most of whom spend their time tracking down stylish design hotels or character-heavy, family-run accommodation – admitted where they actually like staying. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t the ‘boutique’ pseudo art installations or quirky, personality-packed [...]
Information from hotel This morning, I received a reply from a hotel. I’m currently researching a feature on getting away from the whole family Christmas thing and thought this resort might be a good possible inclusion. But I needed a bit of information on it first before I could assess. The response The response, pasted below, [...]
Continue reading about Hotels: How not to respond to information requests from journalists
Travel media and budget hotels I have come to the conclusion that people working in the travel media are in some kind of fantasy land. Recently, I have seen so many stories about the best budget hotels in various locations and have had the same reaction every time. Simply put, the travel media definition of [...]
Continue reading about What is a budget hotel? The travel media doesn’t seem to understand
Tipping for good service? Or all the time? I’m fairly sure that this one will open up a can of worms, but let’s run with it anyway. Cards on the table – I hate tipping, hate the fact that I’m expected to tip, and hate the attitude I’m given when I don’t. And yes, this [...]
My previous post on hotels and their attitude to providing internet facilities for guests drew quite a response. It seems as though it’s not just me that gets angry with this. Time for part two of the rant, then… Patchy WiFi access The second thing that infuriates me about WiFi in hotels is that [...]
Continue reading about Why hotels don’t get WiFi: 2 – Coverage