About

I probably notice things most people don’t.

I’m Stuart Beaufoy. I’m Australian, live in the Outer Hebrides and have spent more than 30 years working in hospitality.

I started as a KP, scrubbing pans.

Since then I’ve worked in kitchens, bars, pubs and hotels. I’ve been an employee, manager, employer and owner. These days I’m a Managing Director, hotel owner and pub landlord.

I’ve picked up a few things along the way, including an Acorn Award.

So when I walk into a hotel, restaurant or bar, I find it almost impossible just to be a customer.

I notice things.

The welcome.

The menu.

The lighting.

The service.

The £300 hotel room with nowhere sensible to put your suitcase.

The restaurant where twelve people hover around your table when all you really want is another bottle of wine.

The ridiculous check-in procedure somebody at head office thought was a good idea.

But I notice the good stuff too.

The person behind the bar who remembers what you're drinking.

The waiter who knows exactly when to appear and, more importantly, when not to.

The family-run restaurant that's been doing the same thing brilliantly for 40 years and sees no reason to change.

The hotel that just gets it.

I know what goes on behind the scenes.

Sometimes that's useful.

Sometimes it's better not to know.

Then there’s the travelling.

I’ve spent much of my adult life doing it.

Sometimes for work. Mostly because I love it.

I travel with my wife Kathryn, our daughters Sadie and Coco, with friends, and sometimes on my own. The people I’m travelling with are as much a part of the story as the places we visit.

Then there are the people we meet along the way.

I don't travel to tick countries off a list.

I want to eat what people actually eat. Drink where they drink. Wander through markets. Find the slightly scruffy restaurant around the corner. Stay somewhere interesting. And occasionally find out whether the expensive hotel everybody is talking about is actually any good.

Sometimes we'll have one of everything.

Often we'll order too much wine.

Things don't always go according to plan.

That's usually when it gets interesting.

This is BEAUFOY.

It's not a traditional travel guide.

I'm not going to give you 17 unmissable things to do in Uzbekistan.

There are plenty of websites already doing that.

BEAUFOY is about what actually happened.

The hotels.

The food.

The travel.

The people.

The brilliant bits and the disappointing ones.

The things hospitality gets right.

The things it could do better.

And the things that become funny once enough time has passed.

I'll tell you when somewhere is magnificent.

I'll tell you when it isn't.

But I'm not travelling around looking for things to complain about.

Quite the opposite.

I love hotels. I love restaurants. I love pubs. I love food. I love travelling and I love the people you meet doing it.

I've spent my working life in hospitality and a large part of the rest of it travelling.

BEAUFOY is what happens when the two collide.