Guest Book · Correspondents
Write for the Guest Book.
We commission our own guests to write about where they stayed. No writing sample required, and no conclusion we would ever edit — how this gets made.
We are not looking for writers.
Somebody asks how the trip was and you do not say "amazing." You tell them the sea-view rooms are worth the jump but only above the fourth floor. That the spa books out by nine and nobody warns you. That there is a man on the desk named Marc who can find a table at the place everyone says is full. That is the assignment. We would just like it written down.
No minimum spend, no follower count, no writing sample. We have commissioned people on their first proper hotel and people who have had the same suite every February since 2009. The first-timers file better copy about half the time. They notice the towels.
What we screen for: you booked through us, you went, and you will put your initials next to an opinion.
You book a trip.
Planned with us the way you would anyway. Nothing about the stay changes. Every entry comes off a booking we can verify, which is the whole reason anyone believes the page.
We send a brief.
Before you go: what to look at, roughly how long, how many photographs, and the terms of the commission. You take it or you leave it. Declining costs you nothing.
You go.
Stay, enjoy it, take more photographs than seems reasonable. The morning you check in we send a short prompt list so you are not reconstructing the bathroom from memory three weeks later.
You file.
Two weeks after you are home. We edit for length and clarity, never for conclusion, and you approve the final version before anyone else reads it. It runs under your name or a pen name, whichever you asked for.
Commissioned work, properly handled.
Assignments carry an honorarium, and what it reflects is the work: length, photography, how many properties, how quickly we need it back. It is all set out in the brief, so nobody is guessing at either end.
It has nothing to do with the verdict. File an entry saying the place was overpriced and the front desk could not be bothered, and it is treated exactly as the brief said it would be.
We do not publish a rate card. Assignments vary too much for a single figure to mean anything. Ask us and we will talk you through it.
Toward the next trip
Held as credit against a future booking. Most correspondents choose this.
Direct
Settled once the entry is filed and accepted.
Passed along
Sent in full to Sustainable Travel International, FLYTE, or Tourism Cares. We cover the transfer and send you the receipt.
It has to be yours.
Your stay, your words, your photographs. If something might color the read, a friend on staff, an upgrade you were handed, a complaint from last time, tell us. It does not disqualify you. It goes in the note at the top.
It runs here first.
We license the work across our channels and ask that the same piece not appear elsewhere, including Google and TripAdvisor. One page, one voice, published once.
You are a guest, not press.
Correspondents do not announce themselves, do not ask for anything, and pay for the trip the way anyone else would. No property sees a draft.
A small society.
Correspondents read every entry before it goes public, see what we are covering next, and can claim a brief before it goes out to anyone else. When someone is planning Kyoto and a correspondent is two weeks back from the same hotel, we introduce them.
No tiers, no badges, no points balance. There is a list of people who file well, and we pay close attention to it.
Do I have to book through Room Service?
Yes. It is how we verify the stay, and the verification is the point.
What are the terms of a commission?
They depend on the assignment and we agree them in writing before you travel. We do not publish figures, because a number without a brief attached tells you nothing. Ask and we will walk you through it.
Does what I conclude change anything?
No. Terms are fixed before you write a word and are not tied to your verdict. A critical entry is treated identically to a glowing one. A review anyone thinks was bought is worth nothing, and then neither is the next one.
What if I hated the hotel?
File that. It is more useful. The only thing we will not run is something that is not true.
Does the hotel see it first?
No. Occasionally we will put a specific factual claim to a property to confirm it. We do not share drafts and we do not take edits.
Do hotels pay to be in here?
No. Not for placement, not for coverage, not for tone. If that ever changes we will label it somewhere you cannot miss.
Is this an influencer thing?
No. We are not asking you to post anything to your own accounts and we do not count followers. It is commissioned editorial.
Do I need to write well?
No. Send us the truth in whatever order it comes out. That is what the editing is for.
How long does it take?
Two or three hours at the desk. The photographs happen anyway.
Can I write about a trip I already took?
If you booked it through us, sometimes. Write to the editors.
Can I stay anonymous?
Yes. Initials, a first name, or a pen name we agree together.
Can I write about how good you were?
Please do not, we will cut it. Entries are about the property. We collect testimonials separately.
Apply to Correspond
Have a trip in mind. We'll book it, scope an assignment to it, and you file from the road.
Many of our correspondents prefer to keep their travel private. Both bylines are honored.