Klout, that most renowned metric of social media influence, continues to inspire as much criticism as it does worship. For all that some treat it as gospel, there are ever more naysayers in the digital room. A recent blog by Travelblather on the subject, spurring a spree of comments, followed a worrying feature by Seth Stevenson on Wired. He examined [...]
The Pride of Britain Hotels AGM, held on Monday at The Goring hotel (David Morgan-Hewitt, Managing Director of The Goring, also being Chairman of Pride of Britain Hotels) brought a few unexpected surprises – risqué jokes from Peter Hancock, Chief Executive, over lunch and an amusing resumé of Morgan-Hewitt’s hotel career, culminating with a recent meal [...]
I have always been interested in the why of travel: why people want to visit a particular destination, and how that desire comes about. Often it comes from the media, of course, and that is where Travel PR and our rivals come in, working with the press. But equally often, I think, there are other [...]
In Greece, you often see men sitting over a coffee or an ouzo, fiddling with their Komboloi (worry beads). It seems an exclusively male pursuit, as I have never seen a woman even sitting in a cafe, let alone playing with worry beads – but perhaps local women sit at home and worry instead? It [...]
An unlikely property mogul, the Devil nevertheless boasts an extensive portfolio including a mountain, a set of cascading waterfalls, several pools and a sinkhole. Prince of Darkness, Lord of the Underworld, Beelzebub’s BFF, Old Nick; whatever you want to call him, the Devil’s one of Earth’s most long-standing property developers, only lagging a couple of [...]
When did you last have the opportunity to run the 100m in one of the original Greek stadia dating back to 300 BC, your name being announced as you emerge, blinking and barefoot, from the dark of an ancient tunnel into the bright sunshine of the stadium, having just changed into a white tunic in the [...]
Helena and I have started our training regime for the one-day, 26-mile London Stadia Trekathon, taking in the sites of the 2012 Olympics, that the two of us are undertaking on 13 May. We are treating it seriously – investing in incredibly comfortable (but not at all stylish) footwear and a pedometer, and setting off [...]
Fine white-sand beaches. Clear warm water. Tropical fish. These were all things I had expected on a recent trip to Mauritius. The dodo, however, was not on the list. Thinking about it now, of course I knew the dodo was Mauritian but, before I arrived, I hadn’t put two and two together – and therefore [...]
Five best girlfriends, an introduction to red kites and a boutique hotel in the bucolic Chilterns. What more could you want for a good old weekend away?! We arrived in our gladrags to a puzzled reception. ”Are you the walking group?” enquired the hotel manager, sounding sceptical. “Hmm – well, we’ve booked a short-break package that [...]
There can be no doubt which social-media platform is trending right now. (Photo of a sleepy local lane) Pinterest has, in the last two months, surged in popularity and public profile in a way I can only ever remember the social-media daddies – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube – doing previously. In December, I asked a fairly [...]