Home | Hotel PR - Specialist public relations for hotels and restaurants

About Us

Hotel PR is a specialist public relations consultancy for hotels, guest houses, serviced apartments and restaurants.

Established in 2001, it has represented clients from Orkney to the Cotswolds.

What our clients say about us

“Hotel PR were instrumental in winning our first (hopefully of many!) award and played a key role in raising our profile at both local and national levels. Scott and Julia’s contacts and experience in the industry are second to none and they were able to create a real point of focus for our marketing strategy”

Jacqueline Nisbet, co-owner, Bennet’s Bar/La Petite Mort restaurant, Edinburgh

Pub Excellence Winner, Catering in Scotland (CIS) Awards

“Scott and Julia have been crucial for the launch of the Douglas Hotel. They have been a wealth of knowledge and contacts but more than that have been friendly, down to earth and genuinely feel like part of our team. We would recommend them without hesitation”

Elaine Campbell, General Manager, The Douglas Hotel, Arran

Scotland’s Independent Hotel of the Year

“Their professionalism, integrity and performance have always been of the highest order”

Ken Lockley, Commercial Director

Moness Resort, Aberfeldy

“Fantastic communicators, speedy and efficient. We always feel like we have Hotel PR’s undivided attention and, most importantly, they bring results”

Hannah Walker, Ardanaiseig

PR & Marketing Manager

“Hotel PR have a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge of our industry. They are pro-active, persistent and work rapidly. I recommend them”

Anne Gracie, Winner of Best Independent Hotel

Co-owner, Duisdale, Toravaig and Skeabost House Hotels, Skye

“Hotel PR continually exceed the brief I gave them. They’re hardworking, successful and creative, with great media insight as well as a firm grasp on my business objectives. Highly recommended”

Colin Stone, Commercial Director, Mansley Serviced Apartments (London, Cheltenham, Edinburgh and Inverness)

Best UK Hotel for Customer Service, trivago

“I cannot recommend them highly enough. They were great – far beyond our expectations. Hotel PR are efficient, transparent and really know the industry”

Rachel Conway, Field Restaurant, Edinburgh

Scott's Blog

Hotel industry specialist launches third decade with pandemic recovery plan

Hospitality industry specialist Hotel PR is celebrating after completing its second decade with a pledge to help boost the sector’s pandemic recovery.

In England hotels can re-open no earlier than 17 May. In Scotland hospitality will be part of a ‘phased but significant reopening of the economy’ from 26 April. Plans for other parts of the UK are unclear.

Scott Thornton, who set up Hotel PR in February 2001, commented:
“It’s a major achievement for any PR company to be still going strong after 20 years, even after the hard knocks of the past year. Hospitality throughout the UK is reeling from lockdown after lockdown but is now eagerly anticipating the upturn. As we’ve been intimately involved with the sector for so long we’ve felt the pain more than most.”

He said UK hotels would face strong competition from foreign destinations in the second half of the year and there would be a flood of domestic accommodation fighting for business to make up for lost revenue.

Glasgow-based Hotel PR has represented hotels, guest houses and luxury serviced apartments from Orkney to the Cotswolds, including London.

Scott, a former foreign correspondent and senior manager with Reuters, added: “Having stayed at so many hotels around the world I saw a need for a UK public relations company which dealt exclusively with hospitality. Most PR firms take on clients from any sector but the ‘one size fits all’ approach tends not to work so well. We’ve always been totally focused on accommodation and restaurants.”

He and his wife Julia, a former project manager in a major London city centre hospital, believe personal relationships, mutual trust and in-depth knowledge of clients and the industry have been essential in their continuing success.

“We need to clearly understand each client’s situation, aims and objectives” Julia said. “That means studying them in detail. Only then can we do a proper job. By definition PR is high profile and can be counter-productive in inexperienced hands.”