#BoHoLover: Meet luxury hotel PR Neha Wasnik @Iamnehawasnik

We have asked Neha Wasnik, Public Relations and digital marketing strategist for luxury hotels, to share her thoughts with us about her love for boutique hotels, and Amberlair, of course. And before you ask, a #BohoLover is a Boutique Hotel lover… just like us!

How do you choose a hotel when you travel?

Before planning a trip I comb the hotels on Google Maps, Expedia and take suggestions from a community of travellers on Gogobot.com, Expedia Local Expert etc. After I have whetted the hotels I check their social media sites and websites to get a feel of their operations and prompt responses to guests. As a hotelier I know that hotels love it when prospective guests write to them directly and shop for rooms and facilities. The response from the hotel (time and content) will give you a good insight on how happy their staff are to welcome and accommodate your needs.

If you had to choose 3, which were the most special (boutique) hotels you have ever stayed at and what made them so special?

Baglioni in London
Nira Caledonia in Edinburgh
Francis Hotel in Bath

They were quite intimate and had a familiar home like atmosphere. The staff was exceptionally caring and wasn’t over doing their bit.

Nira Caledonia in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by hotel.

Francis Hotel in Bath, England. Photo by hotel.

If you had your own boutique hotel, what 3 things would you make sure existed?

The interior would be quite like staying at a home for the holiday or business, The rooms would have a bedroom like feel and not hotel room feel for e.g our closets at hoe aren’t next to the door when we enter nor is the TV on the writing desk or the power stations not sparsely available at odd locations in the room. A space for just tea or coffee in room which is like a small pantry. Hotel team to be assisting as members of the home and not staff. A cosy library and drawing room in the hotel.

Name 3 things you loved in hotels you stayed in before…

The interior of rooms were cosy, the public areas in the hotel were more like rooms in a manor home, the people made all the difference and were really caring.

Name 3 things you wouldn’t want to experience in a hotel ever again.

Over bearing staff, cookie cutter concept of the hotel chains, scanty amenities in room.

How do you feel about the Amberlair concept?

As a hotelier I haven’t experienced anything like it. It is a disruptive concept to shake the inertia of the hotel industry into the same old speedy cookie cutter phenomenon from the 2000s. Bringing travellers and hoteliers much closer and empowering the guests to choose their hotel based on personal experience is a great idea. Travellers know about the hotels much more than hoteliers themselves since they are too close to the nerve centre.

Where are you off to next?

Rajasthan, India – the land of dunes and colours and magical fables and folk music not to mention a large platter of delicious food.

Neha Wasnik is a Public Relations and Digital Marketing strategist for luxury hotels who believes her love for travel and narrating a good story have led her into the beautiful world of hospitality.

After leading the department of PR and Digital Marketing for leading hotel brands the recent one being Director PR for Four Seasons in Mumbai, she is currently enjoying her new found passion for revenue management. Loyal to her first love of writing and travel she has been working with Gogobot – travel app where a passionate bunch exchange their experiences in travel as well as book hotels directly from the app. She is also a contributor for The Lux Insider – a luxury travel and lifestyle blog from the perspective of luxury professionals. 

Keep up with Neha on Twitter and Instagram.