A LUXURY TRAVEL BLOG
The hotels I’ve actually slept in — and what they were really like.
Honest reviews of the world’s best hotels, written from the room, on my own dime. No press junkets, no borrowed opinions.
Start hereVerified stay · Hong KongThe Peninsula, and the Rolls-Royce that comes to collect youInside Hong Kong’s grande dame — the fleet, the suites, and the service that still sets the standard.Read the review →Welcome in
I only write about hotels I’ve actually stayed in.
Most luxury travel writing is done from a desk, off a press kit and a folder of borrowed photographs. This blog is the opposite. Every hotel here is one I paid for myself and slept in, with my own suitcase in the corner and my own photos on the memory card.
I tell you what a night actually feels like, what you actually get, and I say so plainly when something isn’t worth it. I started writing because friends kept asking the same question — is it actually worth it? — and I wanted to answer truthfully.
— J.C. Mercer
Latest from the blog
HONG KONG
The Peninsula, and the Rolls-Royce that comes to collect you
Inside Hong Kong’s grande dame — the fleet, the suites, and the service that still sets the standard.
by J.C. Mercer · 16 min
FIJI
Kokomo: the seaplane and the mantas
One of the Pacific’s most private islands — the villas, the food, and whether it’s worth the journey.
by J.C. Mercer · 18 min
MAYAKOBA, MEXICO
Banyan Tree Mayakoba: beachfront vs. jungle rooms
Sand is for lovers, mangrove is for families — and the mangrove is what the hotel is really selling.
by J.C. Mercer · 13 min