Is the prestigious Blackberry Farm in Tennessee slipping?/via TripAdvisor
Just a brief note from the News You May Or May Not Be Able To Use Desk:
I, like (few of) you, have been deeply concerned to watch the progressive veering of Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report from Grumpytown into Niceville.
If you don’t know who Andrew Harper is, well, don’t worry. Neither does anyone else. He’s a composite, a persona invented by the folks behind the Report, an exclusive newsletter sent to alot of very wealthy, well-traveled subscribers who depend on his (or her — there’s a lady Harper in all this somewhere) advice when planning their trips, mainly where hotels are concerned.
Rumors abounded a couple of years ago that “Andrew” was no longer involved. These rumors were never substantiated, but readers of the report — us included — have noticed a considerable softening of the edges in the reviews published in the newsletter each month. We’d go so far as to say things were getting kind of tedious. Explaining what amenities are on offer and what a gem Chef was=not so interesting as really expensive luxury hotels and resorts being taken to the woodshed.
From time to time, sure, there’s some delightful attacking of sacred cows, but in the last year or so, there are entire issues were we’d search in vain for things we couldn’t read in press materials. No dice. When you can get the straight skinny from Tripadvisor and not Harper, everything’s gone topsy-turvy.
This month, however, things are not so sweet and kind. The newsletter’s What’s Hot, What’s Not column, where readers write in to give their opinions on popular properties, takes serious swipes at the food being served at the sainted Blackberry Farm in Tennessee (say it ain’t so!), spanks the front-desk staff at the Wickaninnish Inn on Vancouver Island and sighs over the current state of San Francisco’s Campton Place, widely known to be suffering after the takeover by Taj (more about that here, btw).
That’s readers, okay. But the Report itself doesn’t sit on its hands either, bashing Paris’ Le Meurice for its gaudy makeover and questioning the proliferation of Alain Ducasse restaurants (though it does come down on the side of the new Jules Verne effort at Paris’ Eiffel Tower, which is, admittedly, one of the hottest tables in town right now.)
Simply put, all this petty bitchery on one page reminds us of the old days. We can now say we’re looking forward to next month’s issue. For a while there, that could not be said. So, fingers crossed.
Interested in knowing more about The Report? Contact the subscription office here.
UPDATE 3/8: I just checked out some of the reviews on TripAdvisor for Blackberry Farm. Yikes. People thinking of traveling there should really have a look.