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Reviews do matter. A report by SAS noted that positive reviews (less so TripAdvisor-based rank and brand), followed by lower price were the most important influencers of choice.

And lower price or higher ratings don't overcome the impact of negative reviews.

But even in America, it's possible that more isn't better.

Writing reviews is almost a national pastime.  Writing reviews on everything and saying pretty much what we want and being rewarded by some sort of badge or other "atta boy" reco

How surprising is this: In the second half of last year, fewer that 1% of visitors arrived at a hotel or travel booking site, "via a social media link or a link shared by by a friend. So reports Hotelmarketing.com

Does this mean hotels are wasting their time chasing the Holy Grail of Twitter and Facebook?

Could be. We love our friends' photos and status updates, the report goes on to say, and it's very true that social media platforms and channels do develop loyalty.
The contests do lead to deep

It's a strange contradiction. We're told visuals drive bookings, traveler interest.

We hear that travelers looking to book will be compelled to do so by rich images that tell the kind of story we want to buy into.

But the visuals we typically see are sterile and empty.

VFM Leonardo, a leader in online visual story telling, reports on the top ten visuals shoppers want to see on a website before they actually book a hotel room or a destination.

The smart money tells us that travelers don't b

Manor on Golden Pond is named after the hit movie classic On Golden Pond starring Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda. Heck, the cast and crew stayed here during the 1981 filming which was a huge PR boost for a village of a few specialty shops and marina on Squam Lake. Although monumental, this movie is but one event weaved into the much broader fabric of time in New Hampshire's Lakes Region. For over 150 years, tranquility and natural beauty have been the main features of escaping here.

Manor on

Too much visual information and not enough solid, reliable , trustworthy facts?

Not enough education and awareness building by luxury travel marketers?

Misidentification of the luxury traveler?

You'd think that the "rich and famous" would naturally be drawn to top hotel brands, names synonymous with luxury like the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons.

But Luxury Daily in an article by Joe McCarthy, says it ain't necessarily so.

Apparently very few of the top 10% of the wealthy "have experience wi

In 2013 it's hardly news that that dining options in big luxury hotels have for the most part evolved way beyond the good-quality-but-bland fare of yore, with high-profile marquis restaurants showcasing some of the world’s top chefs. But in my experience, few offer a culinary experience so cozy, intimate, and downright romantic as downtown Miami’s Trapiche Room. The fine-dining star of the four eating/drinking venues at the 274-unit, Four-Diamond JW Marriott Hotel on downtown’s premier business

Buenos Aires, Argentina

By Roy Heale

In a surprise move during the first week of October the Spanish Axel Hotel Group announced the sale of its Buenos Aires property to a group of Argentine investors and henceforth it will be known as the BeHotel. The former owners did not give any reasons for this unexpected move but local travel industry speculators blamed the decrease in LGBT visitors to Argentina during recent years and the national government's foreign exchange controls. However, the new owne

Is Google’s New Hotel Finder a Game Changer?

I don’t know if Google’s recently-launched  Hotel Finder  is actually a game changer, or, as Google itself said,  “an experiment in finding the perfect hotel.”

But it’s fun to play with.

Eric Leist,  an emerging technologies specialist says  that it’s always interesting to see information we scroll  through linearly, suddenly presented  in a new, visually interesting and user-friendly layout.” 

Google's Hotel Finder does just that: Takes hotel search re

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Accessible only by a 4-wheel drive required 14-mile dirt road 25 miles southeast of Big Sur, CA, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center offers an escape from everyday like no other.

Nestled in a mountain valley deep in the Ventana Wilderness Preserve, this retreat has served as a place for self-discovery and healing since 1967 when Buddhist author Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, opened Tassajara, the first Zen training monastery built outside of Japan.

Tassajara currently beckons everyo

Miami’s South Beach is the quintessential “party capital of America.” But what if your goals run more toward sun-drenched beaches and culture? On a recent sojourn to SoBe, I had the opportunity to stay in the elegant and refined “colonial grand dame” of Ocean Drive, the Betsy Hotel. In the crowded South Beach hotel space, the Betsy stands out like no other. Sure the Delano, National, Shore Club and more attract a vast amount of attention, but it is the boutique Betsy, that is my rationale for a

You’re an intrepid traveler who's ventured well beyond Rome exploring many acclaimed destinations like Tuscany, Venice, and the Amalfi Coast. You’ve traveled the boot's length of Italy all the way into the heel. Welcome to Puglia, a region renowned for its pizzica folk dancing, historic ruins, year-round fresh produce, and loads of artisan food producers.

Olive trees seemingly as prolific as blades of grass form centuries-old groves producing nearly half of Italy’s olive oil supply. Blessed with

After school wrapped up in June, my family (me, my wife Sue, our 15 year-old son Eddie, and our 11-year-old daughter Lee) began scouting locations for our summer vacation.

We established three key criteria to follow in the choosing of our destination.  It needed to...

1.  Offer easy access to a combination of fun as well as relaxing activities.

2.  Be a top-rated, well-established resort facility in a beautiful location.

3.  Be situated within a three-hour drive of our northern New Jersey abode.

W

“Conserving a Vanishing Way of Life”

The journey of Mantis began back in 1992 and was founded by its current chairman Adrian Gardiner. Although the group existed during those years, the name, “Mantis” was only conceived in the year 2000. The name stems from the Praying Mantis, a tiny insect with an uncanny ability to survive in even the harshest conditions by having the utmost respect for its surroundings; such is the mantra of the group. Today the group consists of five star boutique hotels,

gaia-consulting-coaching-for-change.pdf

After years of operating one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in Jamaica we this year will be starting another project in the hope that we can reach out to as many small properties as possible and assist them in converting their operations. We feel that using our combined knowledge and expertise will be able to put other businesses on the path to sustainability and more cost effective management. We will go beyond 'just consulting' and after the

Sea Parrot Ocean View Manor Resorts/Cottages/B&B/Suites

All oceanfront and Relaxing up-scale accomodations on the

Famous Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

www.seaparrotoceanviewmanor.com

902-929-2530

The quiet and restful Genal Valley has a history that goes back hundreds of years. It is located in La Serranía de Ronda (the Ronda Mountains) just to the south of the bustling white village of Ronda, near the Mediterranean coast in southern Spain.

The Genal Valley is sandwiched happily between two national parks, La Sierra de las Nieves and Grazalema, and it is commonly acknowledged as the greenest part of Andalusia.

The valley is divided into upper and lower sections, with the Alto Genal (upper