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The Bizpat Part 2: Driven to Distraction

By John Studd

Throughout the numerous business trips I am compelled to embark on every year, I have learned many valuable lessons, not the least of which is this: Try, at all costs, to avoid any place that caters to large groups of tourists, be they the notorious stag groups of Britain or the endless bus tours that plague the centralized hotels and eateries of the modern city.

Not only are they, in themselves, a nuisance to peaceful contemplation, but they are absolute anathema to an important business meeting or lunch. I can’t tell you how many times some intricate negotiations in which I am involved have been invasively interrupted by a large number of confused retirees wondering whether to order at the bar or find a seat next to Wilma, or by a rowdy bunch of drunken yahoos falling over chairs directly behind me. The involuntary cringe and duck is never, I’ve found, a reassuring tactic when negotiating a major contract.

If you find yourself heading back to the same city over and over again, and you do not wish to be the perpetual guest to your business partner’s desire to be a welcoming host, the first thing to do is find a cozy but elegant restaurant or bar in the area – nothing bigger than 6-10 tables. Avoid all well-advertised establishments, and most importantly, steer away from every single Irish bar (though the latter is excellent for a nightcap or two when all is said and done). Finding a little known, out-of-the-way gem in your partner’s home city can be a wonderful way of impressing him or her with your own personal style and initiative.

Though the hotel bar or restaurant has been the first choice for business meetings for many years, you might be surprised by how many of these fine locations have been overrun by the more undesirable of these traveling groups, especially in cheaper cities such as Prague and Budapest. With the introduction of casinos and fitness centers, the hotel is no longer the most advantageous location for doing business - at least, that is, when outside their conference facilities.

And with group rates encouraging all types of groups to congregate in the cities’ best hotels, they are sometimes not the best place to sleep after a long day. More and more I have been lying awake at 2 a.m., with a crucial meeting slated for 8 the same morning, listening to the revelry of drunken bachelors in the hall, thinking about my own stag all those years ago, and wondering who the hell even has this many friends – mates prepared to take time off work, fly to another town thousands of kilometers away, and spend all this money on a rather up-scale hotel. And it can’t even be written off!

Ironically, all these distractions have now driven me to a more focused mindset in the towns and cities I am often in. Smaller, quieter, more unique establishments. Roads found off the beaten path. And, whenever possible, my very own temporary flat, easily obtained through any number of corporate housing agencies now in existence, away from the touring masses, where I can get a good night’s sleep. These days, as a self-proclaimed bizpat, I’m finding it more productive to do these things on my own terms.

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SuiteNet presents a series of articles by John Studd The Bizpat - Not a traveler. Not an expat. But never at home. John Studd is a Canadian businessman and journalist travelling throughout the world, writing down his experiences in corporate housing and extended stays and publishing it here at SuiteNet exclusively for you, our visitors.

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