Checking In

Salutations! My name is Alexander Basek, and I’ll be blogging about hotels on World Hum. “But Alexander,” you interject, “do we even need a writer to cover hotels now that there’s Facebook, TripAdvisor and Twitter? The wisdom of crowds! Web 2.0!” Hold on: I love me some new media. I even got some hotel advice—unsolicited, useful hotel advice—from Twitter last week. That said, recommendations are a lot better when you know where the recommender is coming from, and once you get to know me, that’s what I aim to give you.

The result, I hope, will cover plenty of aspects of the hotel experience, from the indignities of paying through the nose for wireless to bargains, advice and news. From time to time, I’ll even point out properties worthy of the World Hum seal of approval. Don’t worry, they’re more likely to be a mom-and-pop pension in Vienna than a slick, overpriced project on the Mexican Riviera. (Sorry, Mexican Riviera fans, if you’re out there.) I’d rather give you pragmatic help than update you on where the celebrities stay. Unless that celebrity is Michael Caine; even at age 75, the man is still stylish, dig?

So now that I’ve stated the purview of the blog and you know a little about my biases, both pro and con, let’s get started. And if you’ve seen Michael Caine in a hotel recently, do let me know.

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