How travel writers 'discover' hotels

Hotel gurus Mr and Mrs Smith recently shared their secrets as to How Smith finds hotels on their engaging blog. Mrs Smith is a Cool Travel Guide reader and after she recently commented on my post Don't judge a guidebook by its cover: judge it by its author, I asked her how she selects hotels. Mr and Mrs Smith use a combination of sources: their staff, members, hoteliers, press releases, the media, Smith spies, and hotel books. Travel writers draw on a similar set of resources, dividing We our hotel research into pre-trip and on-the-road research:
* PRE-TRIP RESEARCH
1) Travel guidebooks & websites - if we're updating a guidebook, we'll start by looking at the hotels in the book, to see what's in there and what's missing. Then we skim through other guides on the destination. Because publishers like Lonely Planet, DK, Fodors and Frommers have put so much content online, we don't even need to visit a bookshop. What are we looking for? Overlap first of all. If a hotel appears in every guidebook then it had better be special or it had better be the only one in town. If it doesn't appear anywhere else, then we need to find out why. We make notes on these things which we'll investigate later in person.
2) The Internet - we'll look at the websites of hotels on our list and make notes as to which look suitable, suspect, or so fabulous we have to investigate further. We'll check hotel booking sites like Design Hotels, i-escape, Tablet, Hip Hotels, Holiday Pad , Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Leading Hotels of the World, and of course, Mr and Mrs Smith, to see if there are any new hotels that could be worth considering. We'll also do some random Googling. Occasionally we'll check Trip Advisor; there, we're not looking for new properties (as we're more interested in reviews by professional travel critics, people who spend more nights in hotels than they do at home) but rather to confirm any suspicions we might have about a place.
3) Hotel GMs & PRs - because we've stayed at, inspected, reviewed, and photographed tens of thousands of hotels around the globe, we have a lot of friends who manage and work at hotels, so we hear about new hotel openings over conversation, whether it's by email or at dinner, drinks or parties.
4) PRs & press releases - ditto; we have contacts who work on staff at hotels as Public Relations, Media Relations or MarkComm managers, or for PR agencies representing hotels, so we're on a lot of mailing lists and feeds. Dozens of emails arrive in our In Box every day about hotel openings (including invitations to launches!) See Terry's photos of the behind-the-scenes preparations and glam opening of the InterContinental Dubai Festival City earlier this year here.)
5) Travel media - we read every travel magazine and newspaper travel section there is, as many in-flight and hotel mags we can get our hands on, and frequently scour their websites. We subscribe to all the industry and trade feeds and online newsletters. I don't tend to look at travel websites or blogs like Hotel Chatter for new hotels, because generally they've received the same press releases I have, and I'd rather read the information straight from the source than someone else's interpretation. While I occasionally rip items out of travel magazines, due to their long lead times we tend to know about the hotel, and have probably already stayed there, by the time the issue hits the newsstands but their still handy for some we may have missed.
* ON-THE-ROAD RESEARCH
6) Hotel experiences - once we're on the road in a destination, we'll be testing out hotels by staying, eating and drinking at them (both undercover and through arrangement), and by doing hotel inspections. We'll also hear about new hotels this way. While the hotel PR is showing us a suite, she'll probably say "Oh, have you seen the suites at the new xxx hotel? I hear they're lovely but not as spacious as ours."
7) Leg-work - once we arrive at a destination, we'll have a lot of places to check out and try, restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs, shops, museums, galleries, and other attractions, and during encounters with people at these places, we'll inevitably hear about hotel openings.
8) Accidental discoveries - as we pound the pavements of a city all day every day, there'll always be one or two hotels we stumble upon that we haven't read heard about and nobody has mentioned. They may have just opened or may still be under construction, or maybe it's a hidden gem that's been continually over-looked or recently renovated. Either way, we'll be in there checking it out.

So, how do you hear about hotels? And have you ever discovered secret gems that weren't in any guidebooks or websites that nobody seemed to know about? Pictured: our studio apartment at the sublime Aleenta Phuket, which we experienced last October while we were in Thailand for DK.

Brilliant minds think alike, or, Why so many guidebooks share the same listings: part 2

By Lara & Terry*
If you've just joined us, this continues from the previous post so read this first.
So, why would these three places now get glowing reviews in an updated guidebook? What do they have in common? The answer: all of these places do excellent public relations. And when you read the reviews it’s quite easy to tell that the writer hasn't set foot in any of the places, or if the person did, they were blindfolded. A quick search on Google revealed that many of the reviews of the restaurant we left out of our edition use the same language to describe the chef, the preparation of the food, and the cuisine itself. It’s not a coincidence. It’s simply a recycled press release. And to the writer in a hurry on a tight budget, the 'general consensus' is enough to tick it off for inclusion and write the review from the establishment’s website, a press release, or other lustrous reviews.

In this particular city, we had tried all the restaurants we put in the first edition of that book, as we’d been regular visitors to the city for years. And on subsequent visits we used our local industry contacts (hotel staff, chefs and so on) to identify new places to try. But what we found most interesting from our guidebook test were the other reviewers’ responses to the restaurants we didn’t think were very good. When we discussed this with our informed local contacts in the restaurant or hotel business they almost unanimously said: “I can never understand why foreign writers think that place is so good!” One famous chef we recently interviewed knows exactly what we’re talking about. He told us that one dish that was on his menu for only a couple of months a few years ago keeps appearing in 'reviews' of his restaurant in travel guidebooks and articles. He blames one high-profile magazine article (which has since appeared on the internet) for this and is bemused by diners coming in and asking for the dish! The mention of this dish is his benchmark for judging whether the writer has even looked at his menu.

And this is why buying a guidebook is such a lottery. If you’ve been to a city before and you’re looking to buy a guidebook on it for another trip, look for a review of a hotel or restaurant you know. Is it in there? Good. Does the review make it sound remotely like the place you know? Yes? Excellent. If it doesn’t list it or it describes it in a way that’s not like the place you know, leave the book on the shelf.

Just as an aside, we were relieved to find that our names aren’t mentioned at all in the current incarnation of that first book we originally authored. It’s somewhat petty of the publishers, seeing our content was original, but considering the state of the current edition, we’re actually grateful!

Pictured? One hotel in Northern Italy that in no uncertain terms lives up to its eco-friendly credentials, Vigilius Mountain Resort. This is a photo of our room. We actually stayed there. Do you trust us?

Hotels or apartments: what you'll be choosing when you next travel

Last month I posted on hotels and apartments in Are hotels going out of fashion? My question came about from my experiences on the road these last couple of years and my observations on how people are travelling: what I'm seeing is that travellers are increasingly choosing apartment rentals over hotels, generally with a view to staying longer in one destination and experiencing the place like a local, or simply because they want some of the comfort, conveniences and space that apartments offer over hotels. The subsequent discussions that saw a number of big players in the boutique hotels and apartment rental business responding were fascinating, as were travellers comments. See these blogs. I posted a survey to ask you where you planned to stay when you next traveled and here are the results: 30% of you said you'll check in to a small boutique or design hotel while a close 25% said you'd rent an apartment or villa; another 19% of readers said they'll be staying in a B&B while 13% said they'd bunk down at a hostel or backpackers; 11% were in favour of agritourismo or a farm-stay, while an equal number said they were going to pitch a tent or head for a caravan park, and another 11% said they'd be checking in to a large hotel or resort. Just 8% of you said you'd be staying at a friend's house, 5% were opting for the homeliness of a pensione, while 2% were planning to a stay at a palazzo or locanda. But, despite the rise in couchsurfing, not a single one said they'd be sleeping on a stranger's sofa.

Pictured? The boutique beauty of Beit Al Mamlouka where we stayed in Damascus last April.

Hotels going out of style? The globetrotters' jet-setting take on the topic

I asked you if hotels are going out of fashion and you all inundated me with insightful emails. I want to share some more of those perspectives. First up, a couple of frequent world travellers: Dubai fashion entrepreneur Shehab Hamad, emailing from London, writes “Given the choice between hotel and pad for visits longer then three days I tend to choose the latter (Rio, LA and Ibiza are three cities I opted-out of hotels recently). I still love hotels but it’s been a long while since a new hotel has truly broken new ground and blown me away – staying at Morgans or the Royalton in the early 90s were revelatory travel experiences! But not even Schrager has managed to come up with the next revolutionary wave of hotel concept although the Gramercy is lovely, refined and wonderfully scented... there will always be room for both but discerning travellers do have that constant desire to get closer to the local experience and there's nothing like being able to throw a dinner party for new friends in a new city!” Jetsetting academic consultant Denver Craig emails “Just back from Bangkok yesterday where I stay in a Thai owned boutique hotel called Triple Two Silom. Why there? Only 3 floors! (who needs a view?). They know me – they have my photo so when I book they remember me. They pick me up at the airport. They are cheaper than a chain. They know what I do for my work and know I visit colleges and unis - they find out where they are and guide me. No big branding or commercial stuff in the rooms, no ads, no up sell of products. They want me to come back so they're nice! And guess what? I like them too!” Book me in! But will they let us throw a dinner party, Denver?

Pictured? Our room at the Ron Arad designed Duomo hotel in Rimini. Super-stylish but not ideal for work or dinner parties.

Are hotels going out of fashion?

If you read Hotel Chatter, Hotel Hotsheet or Happy Hotelier, you'd hardly think hotels were going out of style, however, I'm starting to see evidence to suggest otherwise. As much as I love browsing i-escape, tablet hotels and Mr & Mrs Smith, checking in to a design hotel or lolling about at a luxury resort, I'm beginning to think hotels might be going out of fashion. For starters, all of the other sleeping alternatives are on the rise, whether it's apartment and villa rentals (including renting direct from owners), B&Bs, agriturismo, 'cool camping'/glamping, RVing or caravanning. An increasingly devalued US dollar has made European hotels too expensive for Americans, leading US travellers to look for other accommodation options on the Continent this summer. As a result, the apartment rental business is booming, with help from the US travel media's ongoing coverage of 'Affordable Europe'. Those not feeling the pain of the diminishing dollar seem simply to want more interesting and intimate hotel experiences. We're seeing the shift as we travel around and see how others are travelling. More and more people are opting for longer stays in one place while another growing trend seems to be driving holidays where one night travellers might check in to a locanda (a charming little country inn or rooms above a restaurant), the next night opt for a farmstay or pensione, and then they'll do a hotel. People seem to be mixing it up a lot more. Then there's the increasing popularity of couchsurfing, a phenomenon The Guardian's Vicky Baker has been exploring in her series Going Local; Vicky has been sleeping on friendly sofas all over South America and loving it. The guidebook briefs we're getting are also reflecting changing trends, with less emphasis on hotels and hostels and more directives to source greater accommodation alternatives. So what do you think? Are hotels going out of fashion? I'd love to hear your thoughts - leave a comment or answer my poll (top right).