Future Travel Trends

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Laurent Vernhes

President and CEO, Tablet Inc.

After getting his MBA from Insead, Laurent left his native home of France as quickly as he started his professional life, and since then has lived in seven countries on three continents. Through his nomadic existence, he has seen the inside of too many hotel rooms to count -- but like many Tablet Hotels consumers, he has developed an acute sense of what a great hotel experience is all about. In the mid-nineties, at the height of his frequent flyer days, Laurent witnessed the birth of a new phenomenon.

For the first time since the gilded age of the "grand old dames," which was unfortunately followed by the dark age of the cookie-cutter chains a few decades later, a new generation of hotels were becoming local centers of most things related to lifestyle and good design -- from food to culture. This inspired Laurent to create Tablet Hotels. The objective of TabletHotels.com is to be the definitive destination for global nomads who seek more than just a place to sleep.

His personal hotel tastes run from the cheapest backpackers' lodges in the middle of nowhere to the absolute heights of luxury, with very little in between. As a frequent business traveler with a passion for architecture, he has stayed in most of the world's 'finest' hotels, and found many less than inspiring. The idea of Tablet Hotels is that you shouldn't have to repeat his mistakes.