For Storytellers

Find properties and stories that fit your work.

PressStays.com helps journalists and influencers discover distinctive hotels open to professional hosted visits. Search properties and Stay Opportunities, or publish a Brief so relevant hotels can put themselves forward. Inside the platform, Storyteller is our umbrella term for this professional community.

Go. Stay. Tell the story.

Find the places worth experiencing first-hand.

A glass of red wine held over a magazine on crisp hotel bed linen

Who can apply

Professionals with credible work to share.

  • Staff journalists and editors
  • Freelance travel and lifestyle writers
  • Broadcast and podcast contributors
  • Bloggers and independent publishers
  • Photographers and video makers
  • Social creators and influencers

This is not a free-hotel club. Hotels are giving real hospitality and expect professional conduct in return, so every application is reviewed against evidence appropriate to the kind of work you do — published articles and commissions for editorial applicants, audience and content examples for creators. Being listed in someone's contacts database does not make you a member; you become one by applying, accepting our current terms and being approved.

A chef seasoning fish and chips at the kitchen pass

Represented by an agent or manager?

PressStays.com works with your representation.

Many journalists, influencers and creators work with an agent or manager, and PressStays.com is set up for that. Your agent can manage your PressStays activity through their own account and look after several Storytellers in one place. That covers finding opportunities, sending Stay Requests, messaging hotels and managing agreed stays on your behalf. You're still the approved member: your profile, track record and reputation stay yours, and hotels can always see who is acting for you.

Apply as an agent or manager

Tell hotels what you are looking for.

If you have been commissioned to find interesting wellness hotels in the Cotswolds, publish a Brief with your destination, interests and timing. Relevant hotels can see it and put their property forward; you decide which possibilities to explore.

You can also search live Stay Opportunities directly. PressStays.com does not use scores or automated recommendations to decide the fit for you.

What membership gives you

Less arranging. More writing, filming and photographing.

A guest in a white robe enjoying a fruit breakfast on a sunny spa terrace
Hotel, destination or keyword
Editorial or creatorAljezur, PortugalProperty attributes
Vale Palheiro in Aljezur, Portugal

Aljezur, Portugal

Vale Palheiro

Hotels that are genuinely open

Every property here has chosen to host media and creator stays, so you are not cold-pitching a general enquiry address.

Less time arranging, more time writing

Search by destination, property type and interest, then request a stay with the detail a press office actually needs.

International opportunities

Find properties in markets you are researching, including ones that conventional search and booking sites rarely surface.

Editorial independence protected

On an Editorial Press Stay, coverage is never guaranteed or contracted. What you publish, and whether you publish, remains your decision.

Clear creator collaborations

Where content is the agreed exchange, quantities, usage rights and disclosure expectations are set out before you travel.

Free for approved members

There is no charge for approved journalists and influencers. Every application is reviewed before access is granted.

Friends laughing over brunch at a wooden table in a hotel restaurant

Your journey

Discover, request, connect, stay, share.

  1. 01

    Discover

    Browse hotels and Stay Opportunities that are genuinely open to journalist and influencer visits, filtered by destination, property type and interests.

  2. 02

    Brief

    Tell hotels what you are looking for — such as wellness properties in the Cotswolds — so relevant properties can put themselves forward.

  3. 03

    Request

    Send a considered request explaining the story, feature or content you have in mind.

  4. 04

    Connect

    Talk directly with the property through the platform once your request is accepted.

  5. 05

    Stay

    Visit, and work in the way your publication or audience expects.

  6. 06

    Share

    Add published coverage or content to the record where applicable. Editorial judgement always remains yours.

A bartender in a tweed waistcoat carefully pouring a drink at a wood-panelled hotel bar

How the exchange works

Hospitality-first, not a market for creator fees.

  1. 01

    Free for Storytellers

    Approved journalists and influencers join and use PressStays.com free of charge. Hotels pay for access to the platform and community.

  2. 02

    No additional creator fee

    Hosted Creator Collaborations are hospitality-based collaborations. Storytellers must not request or charge an additional participation, appearance or content-creation fee in connection with a stay arranged through PressStays.com.

  3. 03

    The exchange is hospitality

    The value exchange is complimentary hospitality and the experience itself, plus reasonable travel expenses where the hotel has agreed to cover them.

  4. 04

    Editorial independence

    An Editorial Press Stay never guarantees coverage. What is published, where and in what terms remains entirely with the journalist and their publication.

  5. 05

    Agreed creator content

    Content agreed as part of a Hosted Creator Collaboration must genuinely and appropriately feature the hosting property or experience. It should not primarily promote an unrelated brand, or use the hotel simply as a backdrop for another campaign.

  6. 06

    Paid work elsewhere is welcome

    Storytellers remain completely free to undertake paid commercial partnerships with hotels or other brands outside PressStays.com, including other work during the same trip, provided it does not materially reduce, overshadow or replace the content agreed with the PressStays.com host. Appropriate advertising and commercial disclosures remain the Storyteller's responsibility.

Professional standards

Independence protected, expectations clear.

Editorial Press Stays

No coverage is promised or contracted. You decide what to write, whether to write it and how to describe the experience. The hotel knows that before it accepts your request.

Hosted Creator Collaborations

Where content is the agreed exchange, quantities, timings, usage rights and disclosure are agreed before you travel. Hosted stays must be disclosed clearly, and tax treatment of a hosted stay can apply in some jurisdictions — we provide plain-English guidance, not legal or tax advice.

A track record built from genuine stays.

After a completed Press Stay, both sides can leave feedback about the experience. That gives future hotels and Storytellers useful context while keeping application approval, editorial independence and agreed creator content separate.

Read The PressStays.com Standard

Free to join, once you're approved.

Tell us about your work and where it appears. We review every application personally.

Apply as a Storyteller

Agents and managers representing Storytellers apply here too — choose Agent / Manager on the application.