Do Hotel Folks Believe Their Own Hype?

A nationally recognized reporter, writer, and consumer advocate, Ed Perkins focuses on how travelers can find the best deals and avoid scams.

He is the author of "Online Travel" (2000) and "Business Travel: When It's Your Money" (2004), the first step-by-step guide specifically written for small business and self-employed professional travelers. He was also the co-author of the annual "Best Travel Deals" series from Consumers Union.

Perkins' advice for business travelers is featured on MyBusinessTravel.com, a website devoted to helping small business and self-employed professional travelers find the best value for their travel dollars.

Perkins was founding editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter, one of the country's most influential travel publications, from which he retired in 1998. He has also written for Business Traveller magazine (London).

Perkins' travel expertise has led to frequent television appearances, including ABC's "Good Morning America" and "This Week with David Brinkley," "The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," CNN, and numerous local TV and radio stations.

Before editing Consumer Reports Travel Letter, Perkins spent 25 years in travel research and consulting with assignments ranging from national tourism development strategies to the design of computer-based tourism models.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, Perkins lives in Ashland, Oregon with his wife.

See recent posts by Ed Perkins

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The trade press is full of reports about hotel chains boasting of “edgy,” “trendy,” “cool,” or “hip” features. Those terms—whatever they might mean to those who use them—may seem important to business insiders. But do they really matter to travelers? A new survey suggests they don’t.

The Travel Insider, a useful travel information resource, recently queried its readers about the most important hotel amenities, and to nobody’s surprise (except for the hype merchants), conventional values prevailed. What practical travelers want is some combination of no-charge breakfast, airport and attraction shuttle service, no-charge Wi-Fi, and frequent stay points. Turn-down service and spas? Not so much.

I guess that with so many hotels operating what appear to be assembly-line accommodations, individual chain managements stay up nights trying to think of something original they can do—or at least say. But for ordinary travelers, that stuff really doesn’t matter. We’ll take the practical, thank you, and leave the “edgy” and “hip” to the hypesters.

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