After a blog about common mistakes made by aspiring hotel owners on HOTELSmag.com, I decided to collate some of the recommendations made by international hoteliers and professionals alike.

Though few tourists stray far from Midtown, what lies farther south and across the river in Brooklyn continues to give me a whole new appreciation for this city I call home.

Are short lived promotions that feature sustainability good, bad or ugly?

You’ve seen TEDx videos, but do you know what it takes to throw the event? From design meetings and connecting with friends to guerrilla marketing, Yvette Jong's day has a little bit of everything.

How people travel is changing and hotels and other destinations have to adapt their offering as such to attract and build long term loyalty. Here are our thoughts on trends moving forward - from staycations to Airbnb, food tourism to voluntourism.

Sure, I like a hotel that listens to my preferences, but when it starts assuming that I like girly magazines and pink-toned furniture because I'm a single female traveler, I have to think twice about how intuitive it actually is.

When developers are trying to outdo each other by spending more on design, services and amenities, I wonder 'Is silence the new luxury?'

A great signature cocktail is only great if you make great cocktails.  Please don't attempt a signature cocktail menu if you need to work on mastering your classic cocktails first.  

If you're going to enforce a dress code to keep people well dressed, then arm your door with a fashionista, not a bouncer with spare Crocs.

Popups: With ridiculously high rents, barriers of entry, loads of commercial spaces sitting half empty, and a market of expats who rarely eat in the same place twice in a month, it's the perfect environment to test the market, feed the frenzy and make some quick cash.

Should old colonial buildings be restored into new hotels with butler service reminiscent of the English occupation? Should hotel employees start dressing in traditional gear and bowing to guests? I suppose that's what travelers want. Perhaps it's even what I wanted. But is it right? 

China loves its superlatives. Everything now has to be the biggest, fastest or tallest. But really, who cares?