The room was always the reason.

For years, the stay came first. Not the flights, not the itinerary, the place itself. The view from the bed at first light. Whether the pool was truly mine, or “mine” with a low hedge and forty strangers on the other side of it. I’d lose hours to the search, chasing the one place that felt worth the trip.

For seven of those years, it was also my job. I worked as a travel advisor, planning and booking trips for other people and matching couples and families to the right hotels and villas around the world. I learned the industry from the inside: how properties really compare, which “luxury” stays quietly disappoint, and how much of what you read online is written to sell a booking rather than help you make one.

And even with all that access, I kept hitting the same wall when I planned my own trips. The same recycled lists. The same ten resorts. The same impossibly dreamy photos, with not one honest word about the catch. No one mentioned the villa sat ninety minutes from anywhere. No one said the famous infinity pool ran cold, or that it filled with day-trippers by mid-morning. I usually found out the same way my clients sometimes did, after the money was already spent.

So I started keeping notes. Honest ones. What the photos got right, what they quietly left out, and who each place was truly for. Years of doing this professionally taught me exactly what to look for. Those notes became EscapeWorthy, the travel companion I always wanted. No hotel pays to be here. When a place is worth your money, I’ll tell you exactly why, and when it isn’t, I’ll tell you that too.