Life as a Hotel Writer

When I mention to people that I write about hotels, the first question is usually along the lines of, "Wow, so you get to go places and write about them?"

OK, maybe I don't have the most insightful acquaintances. But the short answer to the question is, "Yes." The long answer is, "Yes, but it's not always as glamorous as it sounds."

Of course, I'm no Raquel Brulé. She and her traveling companion scour the world looking for the finest hotels and designer boutiques for their Internet travel guide, Carnet.

The description of their typical workweek reads just like my life - with a few substitutions. Simply substitute "Marc Jacobs dresses" with "Gap jeans with a ripped knee," remove "traveling between their other homes in Geneva and the Dominican Republic and a 120-acre vineyard in the French Cognac country" in favor of "shutting between only one home in Houston and family and friends in New Orleans, with lots of side trips to the airport," and take the "pink Turnbull & Asser oxford shirts" off my traveling companion and substitute "red and blue Power Rangers T-shirt."

And I rarely bark orders at waiters or leave spas in a huff, even before I've had my morning caffeine. Otherwise, honestly, it reads just like my life as a hotel diva.