Brandon Berkson

Hotel Snapshot Courtesy of Ahilya by the Sea. If the Fort is the Holkars' grand ancestral seat, Ahilya by the Sea is their summer reverie. Set on Coco Beach in the fishing village of Nerul, the 10-key retreat began life as the private home of Leela Kannakadri Ellis, a US-based owner linked to the royal family by marriage. The Holkars manage it now, and it hasn't lost its sense of being someone's house. Days here keep an older tempo.

What makes a great boutique hotel? For me and Hotels Above Par founder Brandon Berkson, it comes down to something increasingly valuable in hospitality: having a unique point of view. I’m Jacqueline Gifford, the editor in chief of Travel + Leisure, and this past weekend I was joined by Brandon from his Substack, Hotel Espresso.

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 to independent travel in Mexico. To be straight with you, I don’t do hyper-corporate mega-resorts or uber-commercialized tourist traps.