The Boutique Search Firm Blog

Dear HomeAway and assorted not-so-transparent subsidiaries: Your concept of hotel-replacement product is a great idea. It seems that, most of the time, it works. If I were to read all the gushing reviews from past guests, I would altogether stop staying in hotels. BUT, after 4 experiences with your concept (Southern France, Paris, Hawaii and […]

It is January 2018 and we are working remotely for the month.  Because the Wi-Fi connection at our Airbnb was not immediately ready,  we decided to put the top down and head toward Diamond Head. A Leading Hotel of the World. Meeting the restaurant hostess downstairs, she immediately asks for my room number. I explain […]

I am as energy conscious as the next guy. However I never fail to get irritated when I check into a respectable hotel and find a tacky note on the bed or in the bathroom strongly recommending I jump through hoops to keep a couple of towels or washcloths from being laundered. Would you not […]

Have you noticed, in recent years, that little “je ne sais quoi” that feels so familiar when you step into the lobby of a luxe hotel? Is it that all the beautiful women are exquisitely made up and perfumed? Or does it feel more like getting off the elevator at Neiman Marcus’ cosmetics floor? Your […]

I do not advertise any product. Never did, never will. However, I am occasionally impressed with the way certain people do things, especially as compared to the way other people do it. I have been a fan of Airbnb, Home Away and VRBO. They have a great concept, great software and, for the most part, […]

“Ladies and Gentlemen, our flight is overbooked today and we’d like to ask if there are any volunteers to take a later departure…”. The recent incident in which a bona fide paying seated customer of United Airlines was forcibly removed from the plane in order to accommodate a flight crew, has been drawing universal attention. […]

From a deep, long lasting recession, the hospitality industry jumped overnight, (about three years ago) into a period of enthusiastic and unbridled growth. Airports and industrial suburbs, where most of the “traveling salesman” types continue to stay, no longer appeal to the “hip” developer. Downtown and urban areas is where hotel development has been taking […]

It has been my job, over several years (and then some) to interview candidates and, better yet, coach them on the interviewing process. There are Six Senses to life, but Seven Senses to interviewing. SIGHT What will you be seeing during your interview, and what will the interviewer see?  A fashionable and demure outfit is […]

Nothing has changed more over the past 25 years or so than the once indestructible custom of Holiday Wishes. I remember the days when advertising agencies would go all out to prepare spectacular, multi-page cards for luxury and not-so-luxury hotels. They were often a collaborative effort between the agency and the management team at the […]

To be for or against Donald Trump is now irrelevant: in January 2017, he will officially become our President and Commander in Chief. We may or may not like any of his policies, and have issues with his character. One thing remains: he is a Hotelman, an Innkeeper, and will have a natural tendency to […]