A Lifelong Passion For Hospitality Led Brandon Berkson To Launch Hotels Above Par
What started as an Instagram series has expanded into a successful online magazine and newsletter
(Hotels Above Par)
Perfect For: Anyone passionate about travel and unique boutique hotels
For Brandon Berkson, a passion for hospitality started at an early age. So much so, that he often requested that he and his brother pretend to be hoteliers when they were young.
“I've always loved travel,” he informs A HOTEL PODCAST. “I've always loved boutique hotels. And with check in, it's your first experience (in) a new town and (a new) hotel. And it always left a lasting impression on me. So…when I was a little kid, and my brother hated doing this, but I forced him. I would make him play Hotel with me. And I would pretend that I was the person at the check in desk or sometimes as a bell boy, and he just wanted to play baseball. It was like, ‘Brandon, like, why are we doing that? I want us to play sports.’ And then I was like, ‘I have no interest in that. I would rather just play Hotel.’”
(Brandon Berkson)
Flash forward to Berkson’s adult years, and that passion led him to launching Hotels Above Par, an online deep dive into all things hotels, hospitality, and travel. The founder’s first job in the industry came in the form of a joint front desk and bellboy role at a boutique property in college, which led to a position with a hotel PR firm. The agency represented clients like Nobu Hotels and The Luxury Collection, an experience that left Berkson “enamored by (his) job.” The role allowed him to sharpen his social media skills with regards to hospitality projects. But then the early months of 2020 happened, and Berkson was furloughed.
“I was very devastated about being furloughed and I was very devastated about what was happening with the whole industry, about how these hotels were floundering,” he recalls “I mean, you remember what it was like in March 2020. And so it was just a whole whirlwind of emotions.”
That professional disruption turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however. That same year, Berkson launched an Instagram account with the title Hotels Above Par. The profile showcased striking photos of hotels with corresponding 300 word short form write ups about the properties. As everyone was stuck inside and dreaming of travel, an account showcasing dreamy hotels to visit in better days to come “kind of just went viral,” according to Berkson.
“What remains consistent is that in addition to the boutique hotels that are featured, every place that we feature is a boutique establishment. So it's something that's going to be boutique-oriented. You'll never see something that's hyper-corporate on our site or hyper-commercialized.” - Brandon Berkson
In August of 2020, Berkson was invited back to his agency role. The combined toll of working his day job and managing the Hotels Above Par Instagram proved to be significant, however, leaving him to debate pursuing his passion project full time. Securing funding not only allowed Berkson to devote himself entirely to Hotels Above Par, but also build out the vision for the venture.
“(Funding) meant we could do a website and a newsletter and I was able to hire journalists to write for us and really I'm so fortunate about it,” Berkson reveals. “We've had around 35 to 40 of some of the nation's best travel journalists and they've taken a liking to the concept. So that happened. I ended up leaving my job full time and going here with Hotels Above Par full time. And fast forward, you know, now we're in 2024 and we have over 215,000 readers. That includes 115,000 followers on Instagram and 45,000 newsletter subscribers. So, you know, it's, I'm really fortunate about it and I'm glad that I was able to really bring my love for hospitality into what I do every day and make it a career for myself, entrepreneurial wise.”
The jump from a social media venture to a full web experience proved to be a game changer, allowing for features that could expand the 300 word Instagram model into stories that take about three or four minutes to read. That brevity is by design, with Berkson citing any features on the site with more than 750 words “an anomaly.”
“I knew that once the website was created, it would garner a lot more readers because the website stores everything from the Instagram,” Berkson explains. “So if you're looking for a specific destination, you can go on the website or a specific article, you can go on the website. And I think it was mandatory to have that while in the beginning it was like, ‘oh, okay, it's just going to be the Instagram.’ But with it growing and all the articles that we were publishing, we needed a place to store them past an Instagram page.”
Hotels Above Par also branched out as a Mailchimp newsletter. It’s a medium Berkson cites as “one of (his) favorite platforms,” explaining “your newsletter subscribers are some of the most dedicated that you'll have across from the media-sphere.”
Catagories for HAP hotel features range from LGBTQ+-Friendly to Family-Friendly Travel to Affordable & Adorable and more. Recent features include Live Your Best Queer Life in These Cities and An Insider Travel Guide to Paros, Greece. Throughout all the stories, however, is a specific focus that reflects Berkson’s own passion.
“I would say that to get even more niche, I have such a passion for boutique hotels.” he shares. “When the hotel has individualism attached to it (and) connects you to the heart of a destination. There's something intentional in the design that really is redolent of a certain theme or the surrounding area that really piques my interest.”
The site also features destination directories, offering travel insights and inspiration across continents, countries, and states. For Berkson, however, one locale is at the top of his travel list: Mexico.
“So I am Mexico's number one fan,” he reveals. “I love Mexico more than anything. It's my favorite place. It's my happy place. Being able to write a story on the coolest boutique hotels in Mexico. So Mexico and boutique hotels, both my passions. That was my favorite piece yet. And I could keep on expanding to it because I can't stop talking about boutique hotels in Mexico.”
For more on Hotels Above Par, including Berkson’s travel tips for shoulder season, the HAP team who help bring the Instagram and web features to life, and interest in bringing Hotels Above Par to print, check out his interview on A HOTEL PODCAST below.
Find more via Hotels Above Par. And subscribe for more from A Hotel Podcast on LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Words and by Jaime Black. All images via their respective hotels.