Sense Of Edit conducts structured on-site assessments for independent hotels, bringing together data-led analysis, a commercial strategist’s thinking, and a travel journalist’s eye. The result is a clear, prioritized view of your property and a concrete path forward.
A strategist's read on the numbers, paired with a critic's eye for detail. The same lens applied to every property we assess.
Most hotel owners know when something isn't quite working before they can name it. Reviews plateau, the property photographs beautifully and still underperforms, or repeat guests thin out without explanation. The issue is rarely one thing — it's a pattern that becomes visible when someone examines the full experience with fresh, trained eyes.
We assess that experience firsthand, from how your property appears online to how a stay actually feels, and deliver a written report with specific, prioritized findings. Every observation is tied to a business outcome (e.g., occupancy, rate, reputation, repeat visits) so you know exactly what to fix, and why it matters.
A single assessment can't fix a property, but it can tell you precisely where to focus, and that only works if it covers the entire guest experience, not just the parts that are easiest to observe.
We assess the property as a guest experiences it, from the digital experience and pre-arrival journey through the stay itself, service interactions, departure, and post-stay communication. We look beyond isolated details to identify the broader gaps, inconsistencies, and opportunities shaping how guests perceive the property.
Our findings are synthesized into a clear, prioritized report that distinguishes what's working, what's getting in the way, and where changes can have the greatest impact. Recommendations are grounded in the outcomes that matter to the business — guest satisfaction, reputation, rate, occupancy, and repeat visits — so owners leave with a focused understanding of what to improve and why it matters.
Sense Of Edit is an independent hotel consultancy founded by Sarah Long and Lauren Harano. We are a focused advisory practice that helps independent hotel owners see their property clearly — and make better decisions as a result.
The practice is built around an unusual pairing, as one half comes from strategy and analytics, where the job is finding the point at which an experience problem turns into a revenue problem. The other has spent nearly a decade professionally reviewing hotels, with an eye for the small details that shape how a stay feels. Most owners get one of those perspectives. We think the useful answers live where the two meet.
Every audit is conducted by both founders.
Sarah brings the commercial operator's perspective to every Sense Of Edit engagement. Her background is in business strategy, analytics, and operations — built across nearly a decade in management consulting, technology, and growth-stage companies — and she has spent her career translating complex data into decisions that actually get made.
At Sense Of Edit, that means ensuring every finding in a report is anchored to a business outcome: occupancy, rate, review score, or repeat guest behavior. She doesn't just identify where a property is falling short — she frames it in terms an owner can act on, so the work becomes a basis for prioritization rather than a list of problems to acknowledge. She leads client relationships, scoping, and the team's methodology.
Lauren is a luxury travel journalist and professional hotel reviewer with nearly a decade of experience covering properties for leading travel publications. Her byline can be found in select outlets, including Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Hotels Above Par, and Fodor’s Travel. Having experienced and assessed more than 70 hotels across luxury, boutique, and independent categories, she brings firsthand exposure to properties, service models, and guest experiences that very few traditional consultants have.
Years of assessing hotels professionally have taught her how the many elements of a stay come together to shape a guest's overall impression, including the details guests notice and feel even when they can't quite articulate why something worked or fell short. Lauren brings the same critical eye she applies to her editorial work to each engagement, examining the full guest experience in far greater depth than any published review allows and translating what she sees into actionable opportunities for the property.
Selected bylines: Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Hotels Above Par, The Quality Edit, Fodor's, National Geographic, InStyle
Lauren's journalism spans luxury travel, hotel reviews, and destination guides — the same firsthand exposure that now informs every Sense Of Edit assessment. A selection of her work is below.
We are currently conducting our first formal engagements. Testimonials and case studies will be published here as they become available. If you're interested in being among our first clients, we'd welcome the conversation.
We take on a small number of engagements at a time. Tell us about your property and we'll arrange a 30-minute call to explore whether we're a good fit — no commitment required.
A good edit doesn't change what something is. It makes more of what it already was.