HeyJaredHotel Espresso, with HAP
HAP CEO Brandon Berkson’s personal newsletter covering all things boutique hotels. Sip on sharp takes covering hospitality, must-know stays, and insider hotel news—best enjoyed standing, espresso in hand.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 13
- Latest publication
- Sep 28, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 21, 2026
Latest issues
Every hotel I've ever recommended, on one map (opens the original)
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Hey (HAP)pers, I did a slightly obsessive thing this weekend.I mapped every hotel I’ve ever recommended in Hotel Espresso—the tiny guesthouses I stumbled into, the grand dames I’ll never stop talking about, and every reader submission I’ve approved along the way.Seeing them all pinned in one place was a strange little gut-check. There are clusters I expected (hello, Paris and Mexico) and gaps I didn’t. It’s a map of where I’ve been, what I keep going back for, and where you’ve sent me.The full m
25 hotels with under 20 rooms that my readers swear by (opens the original)
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Hey (HAP)pers,Welcome to this week’s Hotel Espresso, with HAP—and a special hello to the crowd of newbies who just pulled up a chair.If we haven’t met, I’m Brandon Berkson, founder of Hotels Above Par (HAP), the go-to magazine for boutique hotel lovers, and Mexzine, a twice-weekly, design-obsessed guide t
Your 24 Favorite Tiny Hotels (+ Map Inside) (opens the original)
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Hi (HAP)pers,I just got back from Paris, where The World’s 50 Best Hotels ceremony was a blast. Major congrats to all the winners—or as we say in Jewish culture, “Mazal Tov!”Thanks for reading Hotel Espresso, with HAP! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<div cla
I asked y’all for your favorite tiny hotel. Hundreds answered. (opens the original)
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Hi (HAP)pers, I'm writing to you today from Porto, Portugal, where I'm staying at The Largo, a boutique hotel in one of my favorite collections in the business—Querido. If you're not familiar, Querido is a handpicked group of family-owned luxury hotels and resorts, mostly in Europe. Founder Carlos spent seven years at the Marbella Club before launching it, and that experience shaped his one non-negotiable: every property is chosen as much for how the owners treat their teams as for how they trea
30 rules for boutique hotel people (opens the original)
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Hey (HAP)pers,Welcome back to Hotel Espresso, with HAP—my spicy, personal Substack on boutique hotels, travel, the daily circus of running an independent media company, and whatever industry take I’ve been biting my tongue on all week. If you’re new here, I’m Brandon Berkson, former bellboy, hospitality publicist, and now founder of Hotels Above Par. <div class
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