How should vegan hotels brief a press stay without coaching green claims?
Quick answer
Send a one-page stay brief before anyone books the room: material-connection line for the comp, a must / may / must-not kit for kitchen and property, photo and caption freeze, and a human review before publish. A press stay is a comped night with a claims kit, not a product UGC caption and not a /press PDF. Do not coach carbon-neutral nights, eco lodge, plastic-free hotel, or 100% vegan property if the minibar is mixed. Do not invent a coverage lift. Product creator disclosures live in influencer FTC disclosures. Stay-page claims live in vegan hotel direct bookings.
Vs other Intelligence guides
| Guide | Job |
|---|---|
| Influencer FTC disclosures | Product UGC captions, #ad placement, gifted SKUs. Not a comped hotel night. |
| Press kit media page | Public /press assets for product brands. Not a stay itinerary. |
| Vegan hotel direct bookings | Guest booking engine vs OTAs. This page is what a journalist may print after a comp. |
| EmpCo hospitality copy | Site, menu, GBP, OTA crawl. The brief must match that freeze. |
| Retreat green claims | Retreat stay and detox language. Hotels use this brief, not a healing program kit. |
| UGC rights | Paid reuse of photos. Get rights. Do not add climate lines in the cutdown. |
| Support claims macros | Inbox paste. Front desk needs the same sentences. |
| This guide | One-page press-stay brief, no coached green claims, review before publish |
Composite operator guidance. Not legal advice on endorsements, hospitality contracts, or EmpCo. A press stay, influencer hotel night, and blogger comp use the same brief. Fill [guest_type].
Three jobs. Do not mix the kits.
| Job | Object | Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Product creator | A SKU in a caption | FTC caption kit |
| Journalist / creator stay | A night, a kitchen, a room | This brief |
| Public media page | Logos and boilerplate | Press kit if you have one. Hotels can skip a product /press page. |
Do not paste the product must-not list onto a stay and call it done. Carbon-neutral night, eco lodge, and vegan hotel are lodging claims. Plastic-free serum is a product claim. Keep both kits if the guest is also filming a brand SKU in the room.
Steal this one-page stay brief
One page. Send it with the invite. The guest signs that they received it. Front desk gets the same PDF.
| Block | Fill with | Kill |
|---|---|---|
| Material connection | Comped room, meals, transfer, or fee. Plain first-line language for any social post | Hiding the comp because they are "press not an influencer" |
| Kitchen must | Kitchen type that is true. Named breakfast hours. Allergen sheet URL | 100% vegan hotel if spa or minibar is mixed |
| Property may | Named cert ID, heat source, waste partner, if the file is in the folder | Eco lodge. Green stay. Climate-friendly boutique |
| Must not | Carbon-neutral night, plastic-free hotel, offset theater, homemade badge, medical detox | Coaching "make it greener" in a WhatsApp after checkout |
| Photos | Rooms and breakfast that match the OTA and the engine | Staging a farm breakfast you do not serve |
| Review | Caption and on-screen text before publish when the stay is gifted | Fixing it in comments after the Reel is live |
Run leftover adjectives through the green claims calculator before they go in the brief. EmpCo still applies to EU-facing guest copy the hotel publishes. Guest UGC that overclaims still attaches to you.
Print vs banned (stay copy)
| They may print | They must not print (and you must not coach) |
|---|---|
| Kitchen is vegan / vegetarian with named vegan plates. Hours. What they actually ate | Eco lodge because breakfast was vegan |
| Named cert, ID, year, operations scope on the stay FAQ | Certified sustainable hotel with no file |
| Heat source, waste partner, refill amenities they saw | Carbon-neutral night. Plastic-free property. Towel reuse saves the planet |
| Member rate or book-direct extras as a guest fact if true | Always cheaper than Booking. Climate-friendly upgrade |
| Personal opinion of the bed, noise, welcome | Healing, detox, cure. Invented guest or occupancy numbers |
If the folder cannot support a line, the brief says omit. Do not "tone it down" in a third chat. See retreat green claims if this is a program week, not a hotel night.
Front desk and F&B get the same freeze
| Surface | Freeze to | Kill |
|---|---|---|
| Invite / rate code | Comped, dates, kitchen hours, brief attached | Eco press stay as the rate name |
| Check-in card | Kitchen type, allergen path, what is not claimed | Welcome to our green hotel |
| F&B | What is on the card. Honey and wine per kitchen policy | Chef will veganize climate-friendly if they ask on camera |
| OTA / GBP | Unchanged by the comp. Same freeze as the EmpCo crawl | Pasting their Reel caption into the listing |
| Paid cutdown | Rights first. UGC rights. Same must-not list | Boosting a carbon-neutral line you would not print on the engine |
Go / no-go
| Call | When |
|---|---|
| No-go | No brief, coaching make it greener, carbon-neutral night, hiding the comp, front desk off-kit, inventing a coverage lift |
| Go | One-page brief sent, kit matches the stay page and folder, disclosure line for social, review before publish, desk card printed |
| Partial go | Honor a stay already booked. Send the brief today. Kill leftover eco-lodge coaching. Do not add a second gifted night to "use the content" |
Score unpublished drafts that failed the kit, live posts that still say eco lodge, and whether check-in used the card. Do not publish a PR ROI percentage.
A comp is not a climate brief
They already have a free night. They do not need you to invent a greener sentence. Give them the plate, the cert file, and the words you will also say at the desk.
Template fields and 7-day run
| Field | Fill with | Do not invent |
|---|---|---|
[guest_type] | journalist / creator / blogger | Press so we can skip disclosure |
[comp_scope] | nights, meals, transfer, fee | A mystery upgrade on arrival |
[kitchen_scope] | vegan kitchen / vegan breakfast / mixed with named plates | 100% vegan hotel if minibar is mixed |
[may_print] | Cert ID, heat source, waste partner, with filenames | Eco lodge as a vibe |
[must_not] | Carbon-neutral night, plastic-free hotel, homemade badge, detox | A softer synonym that means the same thing |
[policy_url] | Stay FAQ or kitchen facts page | A Maps-only answer |
[review_owner] | Who signs captions before publish | Fix it in comments |
- Day 1: Export live stay H1, OTA blurb, and last three gifted captions. Mark kit / unknown / banned.
- Day 2: Fill the fields from the substantiation folder. If a file is missing, the line is omit.
- Day 3: Write the one-page brief. Same sentences as the engine. No greener coaching appendix.
- Day 4: Desk and F&B card. Rate code is not eco press stay.
- Day 5: Send brief with the invite. Material connection in the email, not only the PDF.
- Day 6: Review draft caption and on-screen text. FAIL stays unpublished.
- Day 7: Score leftover eco-lodge lines. Rights for any paid cutdown. Direct-booking copy stays in direct bookings. Do not recook the product FTC kit.
Frequently asked questions
How should vegan hotels brief a press stay without coaching green claims?
Send a one-page stay brief before the night: disclose the comp, freeze must / may / must-not for kitchen and property, match photos to the engine, and review captions before publish. Do not coach carbon-neutral nights or eco lodge. Do not invent a coverage lift. Front desk gets the same freeze.
Is this the same as the influencer FTC disclosure kit?
Same idea, different object. That kit is product UGC captions. This page is a comped hotel night. Do not recook the product guide to cover stays.
Can we skip disclosure because they are press, not an influencer?
If value changed hands, social posts still need a clear material-connection line. A byline in a magazine is a different format. This is ops, not legal advice.
Can we ask them to call us an eco lodge if breakfast is vegan?
No. A vegan kitchen is a kitchen fact. Eco lodge is a property claim. Brief the plate. Omit the adjective if the folder cannot open it.
What do we measure if not PR ROI?
Kit incidents in drafts, live posts that still say banned lines, and whether check-in used the card. Do not publish a coverage conversion percentage.