I’m Fabian.

Where I’ve been

Twenty-four countries, counted honestly, airports not included.

The focus is South and Central America: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Panama. Then the Gulf, with Qatar and the Emirates, more important as a stopover on long-haul trips than most people think. And Southern Europe: Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, still one of the most practical choices in the world for a short trip for two.

I know the Caribbean coast from Colombia and Panama, but not the Caribbean islands. The Maldives, Asia beyond the Gulf and Africa aren’t on my map either.

Why I read hotels differently

I studied International Hospitality Management at EHL and then joined the management trainee programme at Park Hyatt Zürich, before moving to FELFEL as Junior Sales Manager.

If you’ve worked in a five-star hotel yourself, you see more than the pictures when you look at one. You can tell from the description of a room category whether it has been renovated. You know which questions a hotel answers in writing and which it dodges, and what that dodging means.

Perspectives from people on the ground

Through my studies and the hotel industry, I know people who now live and work in different countries. When it suits a trip and I know someone locally, I ask for their view. It’s a personal network, not a partnership with a school or a hotel, and it doesn’t reach every destination.

What knowing a place gives you

Having been there helps with distances and driving times, and with a feel for the place. Both count, and I’ll tell you when I don’t have them.

It isn’t enough to judge a hotel. A week in a resort means you know one room out of two hundred and one season out of four. Someone who knows how a hotel operation works asks the questions whose answers apply to any hotel: how old is the category? Which rooms face the street? What’s included, and what’s charged on site? How fast and how precisely does the hotel reply?

How I work

I remove rather than add. You end up with three to five hotels, not thirty.

Every recommendation has a counter-argument. There’s no hotel without a drawback.

I say when something won’t work. If the budget isn’t enough or the timing is wrong, you’ll hear it in my first reply.