Every stay reviewed on Eli the Papillon was booked and paid for by us, at the same rate you would pay. We do not take free nights, hosted trips, or payment in exchange for coverage, and we do not tell a hotel we are coming. It is slower and more expensive to work this way, and it is the entire reason our reviews are worth reading.
The travel-media economy runs largely on the opposite model: press trips, affiliate commissions and 'partnerships' that quietly shape what gets covered and how warmly. None of that is illegal, and plenty of it is disclosed — but it changes the incentive. A reviewer hoping to be invited back is not a reviewer you can fully trust to tell you the shower was cold.
So we keep it simple. We visit anonymously, we pay in full, and we write what we found — the good, the overpriced and the genuinely special. When we link to a place to book, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you, but that link never buys a better review. If a stay disappoints, we say so, even when we wish it hadn't.
