I've tried to resist chiming in, but I can no longer.
- Even if hotels pull out all the stops to provide superlative service for Ms. Middlehurst, that sets a standard that she in turn demands for her readers. When Ms. Middlehurst describes the specific qualities of a hotel that merit the rating she assigns, the hotel must maintain those same qualities for subsequent guests or else it risks removal of Lyn's endorsement. Lyn receives a large amount of follow-up communications from her readers who visit the properties she has reviewed, and she uses that feedback to ensure that a hotel is maintaining the same service levels she experienced. Numerous times, Gallivanter's Guide has removed hotels from its recommendations (and conveys this information through the updates on the back page of the Guide), when Lyn has found that the hotel has failed to provide an experience consistent with what she had.
- I know of no hotel guide that has more of a positive impact on the high-end guest's experience than the Guide, because of the feedback Lyn provides each property. Even when she loves a property, she provides constructive feedback that results in improvements to the hotel for he readers. For example, when I stayed at Amantaka, the GM told me that the suite I was in had been changed after Lyn stayed there due to some minor infelicities she experienced in its design (i.e. no hooks for towels).
- Being a subscriber to Gallivanter's Guide is really much more than just receiving a monthly newsletter. I have written to Lyn countless times for advice and each time she has responded within 24 hours with incredibly helpful and detailed suggestions regarding specific rooms, pros/cons of options I'm considering, etc.
- I don't see anywhere near the depth of analysis in other reviews of hotels, which almost never provide detailed comparisons of room types, something I find absolutely invaluable.
- And I don't see anywhere near the quality of writing in other periodicals. I am astonished by the range of images, experiences, and structures she applies to her critiques, and admire so much her ability to evoke a hotel's persona or essence in limited space.
- I also value the candid photos, which are truer than what you may see on a hotel's website.
- The rating system Lyn employs is highly effective for the sort of hotels she reviews, as it provides a wide spread of ratings that are all endorsements of the hotel, but allow for much nuance between high endorsement and extremely high endorsement. I find this much more effective than Andrew Harper's, where it's very hard to gauge exactly how good the property is from the review, until you see their year-end Hideaway Report -- but it contains so many 4-star properties that I really don't see it serving the same audience as Gallivanter's Guide.
But to get back to the original point: does awareness of Lyn's visit result in a higher service standard? In many cases, the answer is surprisingly no, as can be read in her reviews, and the fact that a hotel does not even get its act together to provide a renowned critic with a good experience should be a warning to anyone considering a stay. But on the other hand, when Lyn does receive a higher service quality because of the hotel's awareness of her, that does translate into higher service quality for others who stay subsequently, and that value should not be underestimated.
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