Guest post by Mark Hodson, 101 Holidays If you’re looking for somewhere different to stay this year, beyond the excellent recommendations in The Good Hotel Guide, here’s a selection of 10 ideas hand-picked by the team at 101 Holidays, from a homestay in Borneo to a private island in the Seychelles. Who doesn’t dream about… Read more
‘We arrived at this large luxury hotel at about check-in time to an empty reception desk and a queue of checking in couples. After slightly too long a wait, someone came. We were asked to pay a refundable deposit on our debit card – a bit as though we were taking on a student flat…. Read more
By Adam Raphael Most of us have follies. Mine is the irresistible itch of an early adopter. Two years ago, I put down a deposit on a Tesla Model 3. Assuming that the company’s erratic genius, Elon Musk, can manufacture it, it is due to arrive any day. That raises the issue of where to… Read more
By Adam Raphael In an era of corporate hospitality, big data and commission payments, the Guide’s mission to promote outstanding small independent hotels is needed more than ever. But our task is getting harder because of the way Google ruthlessly manipulates its search results to maximise its profits. The Guide’s business model is simple. An… Read more
By Adam Raphael Many years ago, as a young journalist, I was asked by Punch, the satirical magazine, to spill the beans. In ‘Confessions of Motoring Correspondent’, I listed all the gifts I had been offered and accepted on the dubious basis that no one in their right mind could think it was worthwhile to… Read more
By Adam Raphael The Guide gets its fair share of praise and brickbats. Please see ABOUT US page for herograms. We don’t list complaints; perhaps just as well. But recently, I received a query from a reader who was puzzled by the Guide’s GIFT VOUCHER scheme. ‘Giving a free copy of the Guide is no… Read more
By Adam Raphael The Guide has been banging on for years about Muzak. To little or no effect. Hoteliers insist that music helps a quiet dining room. But few things are more intrusive. Younger guests barely notice what is being played. But oldies find poorly amplified, so-called easy listening rubbish hard to take. ‘Most annoying… Read more
By Adam Raphael Happy New Year! I believe it will be. But as Yogi Berra sagely pointed out: ‘It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.’ Anyone who claims they know what will happen in the coming months is a fool or a charlatan. No one can be sure where Brexit is going…. Read more
By Adam Raphael No government has ever set out before to make its voters poorer which makes the political mess we are in all the more bizarre. Whatever the outcome of this week’s Brexit parliamentary debates, the stakes for the hospitality industry could not be higher. UK Hospitality, which represents three million jobs and £130… Read more