Travel – what dreams are made of…

Over the years I must have collected 100’s of hotel and restaurant guides, some I kept, even if most of them are now out of date. So this post tries to replace all those old guides, collections, etc., and recover more than a meter of shelf space. My life was made easier because after checking, many of the older guides and collections no longer exists today.

Obviously the idea of a travel, restaurant or hotel guide is to make recommendations. But does the guide require a subscription for being included? Does the guide accept payment or free hospitality? Just how impartial are they? Are independent visitor reviews or recommendations included?

So in no particular order…

Michelin – has the famous   for select restaurants, but it also classifies hotels and produces tourist guides with its Green Guides. The guide is online and lists recommendations for both restaurants and hotels. I’m still inclined to keep a recent copy of the guide for my local region.

Gault&Millau rates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Wikipedia tells us that Gault&Millau does not accept payment for listing restaurants, and noted that it no longer employs a permanent editorial and tasting staff but uses local agents. However it’s website makes no mention of the selection process, etc. 

Wikitravel claims to be a free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide. The idea is to share information and let others share it as well, so it has adopted a copyleft license.

There are other travel wiki’s such as Wikivoyage (I tend to jump directly to the Hotels, and they have a specific page for Motels).

The Forbes Travel Guide claims to be the “only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, spas and ocean cruises”. They state that they inspect every hotel, restaurant, spa and cruise ship in person, visiting anonymously as a typical guest. No one can buy a rating under any circumstance.

I suppose in direct opposition to the Forbes Travel Guide there is the HIP Hotels guide. They claim that the hotels are unique, characterful and charming, and off the beaten track. But they provide no information on how the collection is compiled or inspected, and if it requires some form of payment in cash or kind by the participating hotels. Other examples include the Best Hotels Guide, Trip.com, etc., which also provide no information on the entry requirements for those included in the guide.

It would be nice if guides were independent, and required no payment for participating establishments. But often this information is not available…, and there are some very useful guides that profess to being ‘independently minded’, but in my opinion probably require some kind of formal adhesion to the network. An example would be ‘Small Luxury Hotels of the World‘, which I have used occasionally.

I’ve also often checked through The Leading Hotels of the World which claims to include more than 400 ‘authentic and uncommon luxury hotels’ in over 80 countries.

And not to be outdone, I’ve also occasionally used Small Luxury Hotels of the World. They claim to have “personally visited, verified and vetted every single one of our 520 hotels in more than 90 countries – each one is anti-chain and anti-same”.

And naturally this all leads to the guide to boutique hotels with the Great Small Hotels Guide.

More recently the guide I appear to have used the most is Les Collectionneurs.

The Good Hotel Guide claims to list the finest hotels in Great Britain and Ireland, and it also has an international section. They state that the guide is written for the reader seeking impartial advice on finding a good place to stay. Hotels cannot buy their entry into the print edition. No money changes hands, and the editors and inspectors do not accept free hospitality on their anonymous visits to hotels. A fee is charged for a web entry, but only those British and Irish hotels that have a free print entry are eligible to be on the website.

Logis Hotels claim to be “the first group of independent restaurant and hotel owners in Europe, with 2,000 establishments in 8 countries”. In its descriptions, etc. it strong promotes a sustainable type of tourism, e.g. a minimum of 80% ‘fresh produce’ and 70% ‘home-made’ food in catering.

In addition to the LOGIS HOTELS brand they also operate:-

• CIT’HOTEL, 2 and 3 star city centre hotels in France
• URBAN STYLE, 3 and 4 star hotels contemporary style in the heart of France’s largest cities
• AUBERGE DE PAYS, in the heart of villages
• SINGULIERS HOTELS, 4 and 5 star hotels
• CHATEAUX ET DEMEURES, castle, manor house, bastide

Bienvenue au Château is a non-profit label which promotes accommodation in 70 historic residences throughout the French territory.

Esprit de France, includes 9 4-star hotels in Paris and 34 residences spread throughout France.

Chambres d’Hôtes de Charme covers both guest houses and hotels, but aims at ‘unusual, secret and intimate properties’. In French they are more explicit “chambres d’hôtes, gîtes, lodges et petits hôtels de charme”. They also very explicitly state that they are not a booking site, take no commission, and they even suggest you get the best rates by booking directly with the owners.

iGuide-Rivages appears to cover more or less the same type of hotels, etc.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Paradores, a public company serving Spanish tourism since 1928. We have stayed in quite a number of these hotels over the years.

Chambre d’hôtes appears to be one entry point into a group of sites listing French accommodation options. The focus appears to be on chambre d’hôtes (bed and breakfast) and gîtes (holiday rental homes).

LUXE City Guides claim to be the go-to trusted source for highly curated, ultra-researched travel and lifestyle information spanning hotels and restaurants, spas, bars, boutique and bespoke shopping, as well as services, specialists and personal guides.

And there is of course “Sleeping in Airports“, which fortunately includes guides and reviews of airports, airport hotels, and airport lounges.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts claims to represent a diverse global portfolio of independent hotels. divided into five distinctive collections, namely, Legend, L.V.X., Lifestyle, Connect, and Preferred Residences.

Hôtels & Préférence claims to be a voluntary upscale chain with 150 chic and authentic establishments in 19 countries, and N° 1 in France of independent 4 & 5 star hotels.  

The Maîtres Cuisiniers de France claims to be the largest association of great French chefs.