David on March 3rd, 2010

Dear hotel chains,
 
While I completely understand your right to brand your hotels – after all, your guests will often choose to stay with you because they know what the brand name usually offers – you are starting to take the piss.
 
Let me explain something about names. My name is David Whitley. It is not David [...]

Continue reading about When hotel branding gets silly: An open letter

David on February 10th, 2010

Millionaire’s giveaway
A fascinating story has been doing the rounds today about an Austrian millionaire who plans to give away his entire £3m fortune and live like a pauper.
Karl Radeber seems to have decided that money makes him unhappy, and whilst I’ll not be agreeing with that any time soon, one quote attributed to him [...]

Continue reading about The Eternal Awkwardness of Luxury Travel

David on February 4th, 2010

Corrections
My previous post – Bloggers vs Journalists: Why bloggers are second class citizens – seems to have stirred up quite a debate.
There are a few things that have been brought to my attention since that I thought I should add. First of all (and somewhat going against my argument), it seems as though the budget [...]

Continue reading about Postscript to bloggers vs journalists debate

Tenerife visit
I’ve just got back from Tenerife (in summary: amazing volcano, not so lovely coastal overdevelopment), and whilst there I was staying in the five star Hotel La Plantacion Del Sur.
 
Good, but…
The hotel was, on the whole, very. Great food, wonderful sea views, excellent array of pools. But you don’t care about any of that [...]

Continue reading about When hotels start showing off too much: A 23 light saga.

David on November 17th, 2009

Amazon innovation
It’s an innovation that has, largely, slipped under the radar. But it could have a big impact on how the travel industry deals with social media. I’ve a feeling that Amazon may have just changed the game.
 
Amazon affiliate program
For those who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, forgive me: you might not have [...]

Continue reading about Will Amazon change how social media works in travel?

David on October 30th, 2009

“Award-winning travel journalist”
When I am asked to write a brief biography of myself for contributors’ pages in magazines, I will often bill myself as an “award-winning” travel journalist”.
And this is true, because way back in 2001, I was named Student Travel Writer of the Year in the Guardian Student Media Awards. Yes, it’s an utter [...]

Continue reading about “Award-winning”: a phrase not to be taken seriously