Why Hotels Need to Start Acting Like Media Companies
When the pandemic brought global travel to a screeching halt in 2020, Brandon Berkson found himself sitting on an empty hotel bed with a lot of spare time and a background in PR. That sudden furlough didn't just give him a breather. It birthed Hotels Above Par, a digital media brand that now pulls in half a million readers a month. Berkson didn’t wait for the industry to bounce back. He built a megaphone. And if the hospitality game wants to survive the next decade, properties everywhere are going to have to do the exact same thing. The playbook has changed. Traditional advertising doesn't cut it anymore when travelers can smell a generic PR campaign from three scrolls away. <h2>Stop Selling Rooms. Start Telling Stories.</h2> Berkson’s trajectory proves a simple point: people don't book square footage; they book a narrative. When hotels treat themselves like media companies, they stop relying entirely on third-party booking sites to rent out their inventory. They build actual communities. They produce magazines, curate playlists, launch newsletters, and publish guides that make you want to pack your bags before you’ve even finished your morning coffee. Most hotels treat content like an afterthought. They post a generic sunset photo on Instagram with five different umbrella emojis, drop a 300-word blog post nobody reads, and call it a day. That’s not media. That’s a digital brochure collecting dust. Real media companies know what hooks an audience. They have a distinct voice. They aren't afraid to have opinions, show grit, and highlight the quirks of a neighborhood rather than just listing the thread count on the sheets. <h2>What the Big Brands Are Missing</h2> You don’t need a massive legacy brand budget to pull this off. In fact, indie properties are often the ones doing it best because they actually have a soul to share. Berkson spotted a gap between sterile corporate hospitality and the way people actually talk about travel today. We want the insider scoop. We want to know which room has the best morning light, or that the bartender makes an unbelievable negroni even if it's not strictly on the menu. Hotels that figure this out are creating ecosystems around their properties. They aren't just places to sleep while you check off a sightseeing list. They *are* the destination. The ones that keep ignoring this shift? They'll keep bleeding money to online travel agencies, wondering why guests treat them like a commodity instead of an experience. Take a page from Berkson’s book. Pick up the pen, turn on the camera, and stop acting like a building. Start acting like a publisher.
How a Pandemic Layoff Became Half a Million Readers
When the pandemic wiped out global tourism, Brandon Berkson lost his hospitality job. He didn't wait around for the industry to recover. He started writing. Out of that came Hotels Above Par, a boutique travel publication that now pulls in over half a million readers, alongside its sister platform, Mexzine. Berkson didn't just weather the storm—he took years of insider hotel experience and built an independent media brand from scratch.
Stop Selling Square Footage. Start Running a Newsroom.
Look at how most hotels market themselves today and you're staring straight into 2012: blown-out bedroom photography and sterile blurbs lifted directly from an OTA listing. Berkson's point is simple: hoteliers need to drop the obsession with thread counts and start thinking like editors-in-chief. When a property actually behaves like a media outlet—spotlighting neighborhood artisans, curating local culture, and backing honest visual storytelling—it turns passive scrollers into confirmed bookings.
Win the Neighborhood First, the Booking Follows
It doesn't matter whether you run a six-room coastal hideaway or manage a major corporate flag; the playbook has changed. High-gloss marketing brochures don't move people anymore. Berkson's success proves that the sharpest travel brands do far more than sell a bed for the night—they own the narrative of the destination itself. Strip away the corporate speak, commit to genuine editorial voice, and you'll build an audience hooked on your corner of the world long before they pack a bag.
Source: Skift | 20 August 2026
Source: Skift. Content curated and produced by Skyplus Team.
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