Blogging Hotel Insiders

Hotel Front Desk Blog’s post Hotel Bloggers Linky (Not Kinky) Love inspired me to this post. [had to eliminate the links as the blog has become defunct since]

He lists a couple of Hotel Insider Blogs, because:

Unlike most other industries, there is not a lot of hotel related blogs penned by employees & insiders actually working in the hospitality industry – most seem to be just another marketing or promotional avenue written by hotels themselves as a management/public relations tool. While this is great, and I’m glad that a lot of hotels are catching onto the trend (yay, technology=good!), it leaves a lot to be said. While reading about the latest and greatest in room types and package promotions is always a good thing – more often than not, I’d much rather be reading about what really goes on behind the scenes, from the perspective of the staff that works there.

Although Front Desk Boy doesn’t see it that way:

Happy Hotelier: More focused on industry headlines than anything else, but a few viewpoints along the way from the author. Personally I think I’d like to read some stories from the author, as I like his style.

I strongly believe I am a hotel insider. I am running a small luxury all suites hotel. As the in house jack of all trades one of my functions is that of the Front Desk Manager. He would love to see more personal stories. Well I can’t do that. Insider stories might all too easy include and identify my guests, as the operation is so small that each guest story can be easily connected to a specific guest. Moreover I don’t like to remain incognito as FDB and some other insiders have to for the same obvious reason: keep in house what should be kept in house. Thanks for the nudge anyway FDB.

As Don Meador puts it: FDB’s list is a great beginning of a list. He misses a few. Therefore I have made my own list of hotel insiders.

Hotel insiders usually should have (had) some working experience in a hotel. I don’t mind them working in sales or marketing. I even don’t mind if they don’t work in a hotel anymore, but have some great insights to offer about hotels. And since Food and Beverage are great ingredients for many hotels, I also don’t mind it they are working in Food and Beverage, even without letting rooms.

1. A Luxury Travel Blog. More or less an insider with a luxury travel blog and with a family background in self catering in the British Lake District, UK. and started his own self catering in 2009.
2. Blog Mr and Mrs Smith by Tamara, Mrs Smith her good self.
3. Budget Travel Tips from Eurocheapo. Well, because they asked nicely.
4. Cool Travel Guide by Lara Dunston in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A perpetual globetrotter and travel writer who has authored and contributed to over 30 travel guidebooks.
5. Crazy hotel Workers a community.
6. Daniel Edward Craig, the former author of the Opus Hotel Blog until he left his position at the Vancouver Opus Hotel to become a full time Hotel Crime Thriller writer. Unfortunately, since he left, the Opus Hotel Blog isn’t anymore what it used to be under the new author Katrina Caroll-Foster. Come on Katrina a soft nudge to continue Daniel’s work, or do as Bill Marriott: Dictate the blog!
7. Feather or Foam? by a House Keeping Queen of Clean.
8. Future Blog From Design Hotels [added March 2010].
9. Gadling A Hotel review site.
10. Get a Room by Don Meador, director of sales of The Landmark Hotel Group in Virginia Beach, VA, USA.
11. Hotel Check-In I picked it up when Barbara Delollis was keeping it with a personal touch for jus the business traveler. After she left it gradually evolved in a mainstream hotel blog aiming all hotel guests.
12. Hotel Chatter. A hotel review blog
13. Hotel Hallways Mister Arthur who is in advertising shows us the dour hotel hallways.
14. Hotel i Tour. Claude Benard’s main blog, since he gave up writing for Les Explorers. Claude is probably the only Frenchman in France writing a travel blog in English as Guillaume lives in the UK.
15. Hotel Manager Talk. Kevin Levine produces his own Hotelier podcast covering topics around N. America.
16. Hotel Marketing Strategies By Josiah – See my Interview with him.
17. Hraba Hospitality Consulting Blog
18. Living with Legends. A diary about Hotel Chelsea in NYC.
19. Marriott on the Move. The Bill Marriott, who, in my opinion, does a good job with his blog. Even if it is mainly about Marriott, he doesn’t avoid critical sounds in his comments.
20. My Marrakesh by Maryam who has has been building her own Moroccan Guest-house.
21. The Barmaid Blog : A Barmaid.
22. The Informed Traveler: Off course Five Star Alliance focused.
23. Red Room ChroniclesLong before Marriott entered the blog sphere, Rob Safuto was blogging about Marriott hotels around the world.
24. Urban Diner. Andrew Morrison is a local food critic who blogs about the Vancouver culinary scene, and he never misses a beat on local hotel happenings.
25. Vacant Ready by a Canadian hotel professional Chris Clarke, presently based in Dubai, who had set up Bed Jump, Hotel Beds, Hotel Splash and Hotel Throne, Hotel Bathrooms exposed successfully and then sold the concept to Hotels By City.
26. Views from A Corner Suite
27. Waiter Rant. Musings of a? Yes, you guessed right: Waiter. His book Waiter Rant is  out and he had to give up his anonimity and I took the liberty of using the nice cover photo to enhance this post.

From time to time you see me doing a bit of updating here

Last edited by gje on December 13, 2016