Currently Bookmarking: Ryan Bean
On taste, travel, and the friend who changed how I see hotels
Lately I’ve been thinking about how much of my style is actually shaped by travel. The places I go, the hotels I stay in, the pace of a trip, the energy of a city…all of it ends up influencing what I’m drawn to, what I wear, and how I put things together. Which is why this week, I wanted to shift slightly and highlight someone I’m currently bookmarking who has had a real impact on how I experience travel.
Ryan Bean and I have known each other for over 20 years, and he’s easily one of the people who has most shaped how I think about where I stay and why certain places feel so memorable. He works in hotel development, so he understands these spaces from the inside out, but beyond that, he just has an instinct for what’s good. Taste, energy, intention.
Every trip I’ve taken with him has been a 10 out of 10, not just because of the places themselves, but because of how considered everything feels. He recently launched his Substack, Bean Checks Out, which feels like a very natural extension of how he’s always approached travel. His perspective is sharp, honest, and actually grounded in how hotels work, which makes it all the more interesting to read.
And on a personal note, he’s also one of those people who consistently shows up for the people in his life, which makes getting to share his point of view here feel even more meaningful. Here’s how he sees it:
KD: Hi friend! For readers meeting you for the first time, how would you describe what you do in the hotel and travel world?
RB: I build hotels for a living, but more broadly I think about how they feel and work. My day job is development, I work on the ownership side and oversee design, development, branding, and construction, bringing a hotel from concept to life. But, I’ve always been interested in the experience side – why some places stay with you and others don’t. Bean Checks Out is really an extension of that. It’s less about where to go, and more about how to see.
KD: Obsessed with your Substack. What made you decide now was the right time to start writing about travel publicly?
RB: I’ve been doing this for almost two decades, and I have had opinions the entire time. For a long time, it just lived in conversations – dinners, texts, group chats. And then, at a certain point I realized: I have a very specific point-of-view and I wasn’t really seeing it reflected anywhere in hotel reviews. Most travel writing is either over polished or completely transactional. I wanted something sharper, a little more honest, and actually grounded in how hotels work.
KD: That makes total sense, especially knowing how long you’ve been in this world. You’ve spent years working around hotels professionally. How has that shaped the way you personally experience them when you travel?
RB: It’s ruined me a little, but in the best way. I notice everything. The proportions of a room, how the lighting is layered, whether the service feels intuitive or scripted. You can tell very quickly if a hotel was built with conviction or just assembled. But, at the same time, I think I appreciate great hotels more than most people. When something really works, I know how hard that is to pull off.
KD: I feel like that tracks for you. So when you check into a hotel, what’s the very first thing you notice?
RB: The arrival. Always. Not just the building or the lobby, but the sequence. How you’re received, how it unfolds, whether it feels considered or chaotic. Within about 30 seconds, you know if a hotel understands itself.
KD: 100% agree!! In your opinion, what separates a good hotel from a great one?
RB: Taste and restraint. A good hotel gives you everything you need, but a great hotel knows what to leave out. The best ones feel effortless, but they’re incredibly edited. Nothing is trying too hard, and nothing feels accidental.
KD: I love that. What’s one detail most travelers probably overlook when evaluating a hotel stay?
RB: Technology. Not the presence of it, but how it’s handled. Bad lighting controls, clunky iPads, slow WiFi, or being pushed into chat apps instead of speaking to a person. It all just adds friction. The best hotels make technology feel invisible. The worst ones make you work for everything. And at that point, you start to lose what hospitality is all about, which is the human connection.
KD: That’s actually such a good point. Are you someone who loves returning to favorite hotels, or are you always chasing the next discovery?
RB: I’m very loyal…until I’m not. There are a handful of hotels I’ll go back to without question, but I’m also constantly curious. I like the tension between revisiting something you love and finding something new that completely surprises you. I also think this changes depending on why you are traveling. When I go somewhere for leisure, I like experiencing new things, and when I am traveling for business I tend to fall back on trust and continuity.
KD: I feel like you do a bit of both depending on the trip. What’s a hotel experience that completely exceeded your expectations?
RB: Il San Pietro di Positano. It’s one of the rare hotels that actually lives up to the legend. The setting is extraordinary, but it’s the way everything is handled. The service, the rhythm, that makes it feel so complete. We first went in 2017 and its stayed with me ever since. I’ve celebrated my birthday there in 2023 and the team somehow remembers everything - small touches and little surprises that make it feel genuinely personal. You and I have overlapped there once and had a bit too much fun at the beach, which feels very on brand for us.
KD: I knew Il San Pietro was going to make an appearance. What’s the biggest hospitality “miss” you see hotels making right now?
RB: Trying to be everything to everyone. You end up with these hotels that are technically “nice” but completely forgettable. No point-of-view, no identity.
KD: That’s interesting. Because you work so closely with hotels, you have a bit of an insider’s view. What trends in hospitality are you noticing right now?
RB: There’s a big push toward “independent” luxury, especially in the US, but a lot of it is surface level. A hotel may get the design right, but the service culture isn’t there or vice versa. There’s still a tendency toward either overly casual or overly corporate, and the magic is somewhere in between. That gap is where the most interesting opportunities are right now.
KD: Now I’m curious, are there destinations you think are about to have a major moment?
RB: Parts of Mexico beyond the obvious, places like Oaxaca and even stretches of Baja that haven’t been overly developed yet. And, I think certain European destinations that have always been “in the know” will start to come into the spotlight more as travelers look for alternatives to the usual circuit.
KD: Is there a hotel brand or group that consistently gets it right?
RB: Airelles Collection. They’ve managed to build something that feels both highly produced and genuinely warm, which is a difficult balance to strike. There’s a clear point-of-view across their properties, but each one still feels distinct and rooted in its setting. That level of consistency, without feeling formulaic, is very rare.
KD: Ok, narrowing it down…what are three hotels anywhere in the world you would happily check back into tomorrow?
RB:
Il San Pietro di Positano, always.
And, JK Place Paris - it’s incredibly well judged - intimate, understated, and just very easy to live in.
KD: ISP is at the top of my list too! What destination do you find yourself returning to again and again?
RB: France, in different forms. We go back to Paris almost every year, it’s probably my favorite city, but I also keep returning to the coast and now for skiing as well. It’s one of the few places that really does everything well. The lifestyle, the food, the hotels - it all feels considered in a way that’s hard to replicate.
KD: What’s the best hotel bar you’ve ever experienced?
RB: The Connaught Bar in London is hard to beat. We just got back from St. Moritz and Renaissance Bar at Badrutt’s Palace is pure old world energy. And NoMad Bar, I am partial to it, but it’s a bar I will always miss.
KD: Beach hotel, city hotel, or mountain lodge?
RB: Depends on my mood and the season, but if I had to choose - beach. There’s something about the pace of a great beach hotel that’s very hard to replicate.
KD: What hotel has the best bed you’ve ever slept in?
RB: I am very particular about hotel beds, and Soho House actually does a great one. It’s soft in the right way without feeling overdone. Four Seasons is always reliable, and the Dorchester Collection has a great one.
KD: What’s your best trick for getting a great room at a hotel?
RB: Be specific and polite. Instead of asking for an “upgrade,” ask for a room with a particular feature or quality - light, a view, a bathtub, corner location. It shows you know what you’re looking for, and hotels respond to that.
KD: Is there anything travelers should always request at check-in?
RB: This large depends on personal preferences, but I always like to get a quick sense of the room assignment. Even just asking, “is this one of the better located rooms?” can sometimes unlock a much better experience.
KD: What’s one thing you always pack when traveling that people might not think about?
RB: A disposable camera. It’s such a simple and fun way to capture a trip without overthinking it. You’re not obsessing over angles or how things turn out, you just take the photo, move on, and get to see them when you are back home. Half the fun is getting them developed after.
KD: Since we’ve been friends for years, I have to ask: what trip have we taken together that you still think about?
RB: Oh boy…this one is hard. The trip to Mallorca was pretty iconic, but so was the summer that we overlapped in St. Tropez and then again at Il San Pietro. And then we have had too much fun on many trips to Mexico together.
KD: I might also throw in our last Paris trip together celebrating your birthday with lauren tulp cichocki and Perveen. Ok last question, if someone handed you a plane ticket tomorrow and said go anywhere, where are you checking in?
RB: Eden Rock in St. Barths. It has that perfect mix of glamour and ease. It feels iconic, but not overdone.
What Ryan does so well is shift the way you look at things without over-explaining them. After reading this, you’ll probably start noticing the arrival, the lighting, the service, all the details that actually define a stay. It’s less about chasing a list of places and more about understanding what actually makes something great.
Bean Checks Out is still very new, but it already feels like one of those Substacks you’ll wish you found early. And if nothing else, I’m just happy his takes are finally written down instead of living in our texts.
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What a fantastic interview!!!!
Need a redux of that Paris trip stat!