Oyster.com

[YankeeFan]

New hotel review site that's hiring journalist for full-time positions:

Right now, the Web site is limited mostly to reviews of hotels in Miami and the Caribbean. But the New York City hotel section will go live in a week or so, followed by the section on Las Vegas hotels. Others will follow.

Oyster, which has financing from Bain Capital, operates on an interesting journalistic model for the Internet because it hires journalists as full-time employees, not independent contractors. Its reviewers train with a 60-page manual. And each review is heavily illustrated with high-resolution photographs, more than 100 for each review, enough to offer a full view of that lavish lobby as well as the questionable state of the shower stall caulking.

“The reviews are very structured,” Mr. Seidman said. “Here’s the room, here’s the location, here’s what the food is like, here are the amenities. We verify that the spa is a spa, and not a small room with an old treadmill that they’re calling a spa.”

He said the site had 15 people on the editorial staff, “all with core journalism backgrounds.” Ten of those people “travel, effectively, full-time, and go to 60 or 70 hotels in a year,” he said. “We pay for all the expenses, the plane ticket, taxis, meals, rooms and, of course, salaries and benefits.”

And they’re hiring. When was the last time you heard that? (Aspiring hotel reviewers need to look up job postings on the Oyster site, and be sure to note the demanding qualifications required of job candidates.)

“It is my hope that by the end of next year, we’ll employ 150 full-time people” as hotel reviewers, Mr. Seidman said. In four to five years, he expects to have reviews of 20,000 hotels, most of them in resort spots and big cities around the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/business/23road.html?hpw

 

[Moondoggy]

Won't they get suspicious when every review is about a Marriott? ;D

 

[playthrough]

I dashed off a quick cover letter. Would be a sweet gig for 9 months or so until the company folds.

 

[imjustagirl]

I dashed off a quick cover letter. Would be a sweet gig for 9 months or so until the company folds.

Ha! They asked for a cover letter, resume AND short writing sample!

 

[YankeeFan]

I dashed off a quick cover letter. Would be a sweet gig for 9 months or so until the company folds.

Yeah, I don't see this company lasting.

The current employees are getting to review some pretty sweet places though.

 

[Football_Bat]

Some oysters last longer than others.

 

[TheMethod]

Seems like freelance would make sense for both parties in some cases.

You're covering the Fiesta Bowl, staying at the Camelback Inn. Why not write 1,500 words for Oyster.com while you're there?

 

[YankeeFan]

Seems like freelance would make sense for both parties in some cases.

You're covering the Fiesta Bowl, staying at the Camelback Inn. Why not write 1,500 words for Oyster.com while you're there?

While I agree with you, it looks like they want their readers/customers to get used to the reviewers so that they get a feel for them and trust them.

Each of them has a profile page on the site.

It looks like they're going for a high end customer base, sort of like spa finder or some others.

I just don't think that's a gig enough market to make money as a free website.

I think they'd be better off going in your direction and paying folks who are already on the road to do a review a well. They could build up a large number of reviews that way and attract a bigger audience.

They could still use their staff writers for the ultra posh hotels, resorts, and spas.

 

[playthrough]

Good for them, hiring a staff and building their brand that way. Saying they should use freelancers or folks already on the road is the equivalent of us saying there shouldn't be traveling beat writers -- just call some warm body in City X when the home team visits. There are movie and restaurant reviewers I trust enough to put my money behind what they endorse, so why not a hotel reviewer? Alas, I don't see myself vacationing at those ultra-posh joints anytime soon.

 

[TheMethod]

Good for them, hiring a staff and building their brand that way. Saying they should use freelancers or folks already on the road is the equivalent of us saying there shouldn't be traveling beat writers -- just call some warm body in City X when the home team visits. There are movie and restaurant reviewers I trust enough to put my money behind what they endorse, so why not a hotel reviewer? Alas, I don't see myself vacationing at those ultra-posh joints anytime soon.

Your point is well taken, but there's a huge difference between covering an collection of people 12 months a year and writing a one-time review of a non-living entity.