Loyalty Programs Drive Direct Bookings

November 9, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

When OTAs like Expedia and Orbitz entered the scene, they whisked the travel industry off its feet, giving hoteliers visions of a utopia where the playing field was leveled and marketing came easy, and travelers a seemingly endless parade of hotel choices at cut rates. OTAs do provide exposure for hotels on a huge level. More exposure, […]

Have Laptop, Will Travel

July 9, 2014.Reading time 6 minutes.

Got a laptop and a good wireless signal? You’re at work—poolside in Tucson, in a tiny Hungarian Village, or snowed-in in Vermont. Marisa Mayer famously mandated a return to corporate offices at Yahoo a few years back, believing that collaboration suffers when team members aren’t in the same room every day. Stash CEO Jeff Low consciously made the opposite […]

Why I Force My Team to Take Vacations

March 25, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

At Stash, we don’t have many strict rules, handbooks, policies or dress codes. The fact is, we haven’t needed them. (Only once has someone shown up at a team meeting wearing jorts. And it’s because I — I mean “that employee” — lost a bet.) I’ve been told by counterparts in the business that as […]

Left to Our Own Devices: 4 Apps that Optimize Business Travel

January 6, 2014.Reading time 5 minutes.

Unless you are a supermodel, chances are your business travel will take you to destinations beyond New York, LA, London and Milan, yet most travel apps focus only on mega-metropolises. But what if you’re like the rest of us and business travels steers you to places like Madison, Lubbock, and Fayetteville? These locales won’t pop […]

The Good-Karma Guide to Holiday Travel

November 6, 2013.Reading time 3 minutes.

The best test of whether your meditation class is paying off is how you behave on no sleep and late for a flight when the mustachioed former Soviet Bloc wrestler-turned-TSA agent tells you to follow him for a pat down. Here are 4 hard-won Stash tips on how to champion the underdog, reward the hardest […]

Room Service: Should It Stay or Should It Go?

September 16, 2013.Reading time 2 minutes.

Stash Hotel Rewards - Benjamin New York City

New York City visitors and business travelers are in for a rude awakening when they stay at Manhattan’s Midtown Hilton. “Yes, I’d like room service brought up to my suite. I’ll take eggs benedict, fresh-squeezed OJ and black coffee.” Pause. “Pardon? I have to get it myself?” While the Midtown Hilton (New York City’s largest hotel at […]

Ready to Veer?

September 1, 2013.Reading time 1 minute.

Road warriors with discerning taste, your time has come. Desire a little soul food, even on business trips? So do we. Introducing Veer, a blog devoted to road warriors who crave exceptional experiences off the beaten path. Style, creative food, drinks with a twist (or twisted drinks). New and unusual hotels with independent owners. Hotels […]