Ask The Swank Guide

Answers to frequently asked questions about how we roll.

How do you select the hotels you review?
One of the reasons we exist is to try and remove the friction involved in planning a vacation. To do that, we have to rub a lot of info together. We research using websites and magazines we kinda trust, blogs, the NY Times 36-hours in..., and often some local insider knowledge. We also have years of travel experience and go back to hotels we know are great.
Do you really stay at the hotels you review?
Yup. Stay there, eat there, do as much as we can to get the full experience. Sometimes we stay a few days – sometimes only a day. It depends on how much time we have, and how many places we need to cover in a region.
How do you make money?
We make nothing to very little now. We will figure out a sustainable business model later – we have some ideas. For now, we’re focused on getting our content – and message – out.
What’s coming next?
Why don’t you tell us? We will be releasing one or more video reviews per week, plus videos that cover a certain region or city. We have big plans. But we’d like you to tell us what you’d really like to see. Join our fans here, and have your say.
Why don’t you do negative reviews?
In a way – we’d love to. It’s infuriating to pay a lot for a mediocre - or even bad hotel. Sure – it’s tempting to want to expose bad hotels. But we want to keep things positive and doubt people want to watch someone complain for 10 minutes.

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