Shawn Frazer

Background

The thinking behind the service

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I have been working as a travel agent since 2011 and travelling seriously since 2001, first for work and then with increasing deliberateness for pleasure. Over two decades I noticed something consistent: the travel industry is structurally incentivised to give advice that is not in the client's best interest. Commission rates drive recommendations. Press trips substitute for independent experience. Glossy catalogues substitute for honest assessment.

There is also a pattern in online reviews that is worth naming. A hotel receives a 1-star rating not because of service failures, cleanliness, or poor staff, but simply because everything was too expensive. This is not a useful review. It tells you nothing about the hotel. It tells you the guest booked the wrong property for their expectations. Part of what I do is make sure that does not happen.

Frazer Bespoke Travel is the response to that problem. The rule is simple and without exceptions: I do not recommend a hotel I have not stayed in myself. Not visited on a site inspection. Not heard about from a colleague. Stayed in, as a guest.

The method

Where a destination has more than one credible property at the level my clients expect, I stay in more than one before forming a view. My recommendation is therefore comparative. I can tell you not just that a hotel is good but precisely why it is better suited to you than the alternative.

Where there is genuinely only one serious property in a destination (the Galápagos being the clearest example) I say so plainly. I will not manufacture a comparison where none exists.

The practice

My practice is deliberately small. I work with clients who want considered, personalised advice rather than a list of properties pulled from a database. I have stayed in more than 215 hotels across 84 countries, and I add to that number regularly.

I am based in London. I take enquiries from clients anywhere in the world. I respond to all genuine enquiries within 24 hours.