Luxury Hotel Reviewer
Erin has worked as a luxury hotel reviewer in Latin America for multiple clients, including Luxury Latin America and Travel42, a division of Northstar Media Group. Travel42 curates destination guides and hotel reviews for travel agents available on their private B2B website.
Examples of some reviews Erin has done include:
Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge in Belize
Luxury Latin America
Luxury hotel review on Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge. Also reviewed this property for Travel42's hotel database.
Read now: Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge
Cayo Espanto Private Island in Belize
Erin has written multiple posts on her stay at Cayo Espanto, including:
My Beautiful Belize
Feature for My Beautiful Belize on Cayo Espanto.
Read now: Cayo Espanto - Private Island Paradise
Roam Right Travel Insurance
Feature on my what to expect when you stay at Cayo Espanto, one of Belize's top private islands.
Naïa Resort and Spa in Belize
Luxury Latin America
Hotel review on Naïa Resort and Spa in Southern Belize. Also reviewed this property for Travel42.
Read now: Naïa Resort & Spa — Placencia
Other Hotel Articles
Trivago Magazine
Feature for Trivago on the best eco-lodges and private islands in Belize.
The Discoverer
A feature on 13 tiny hotels around the world that travelers should check out.
Read now: 13 Totally Charming Tiny Hotels
The Discoverer
A feature on six luxury hotels around the world that are worth splurging for on your next vacation.
Read now: 6 Hotels That Are Worth the Splurge
The Discoverer
A feature of the most romantic hotels around the world to book for your next trip.
Read now: The Most Romantic Hotels in the World
The Discoverer
Another feature on The Discoverer about hotels, this time about luxury hotels that are actually affordable.
Read now: 8 Luxury Hotels You Can Actually Afford
Food Travel
Erin spends the majority of her travel time scouting out the best eats in locations around the world. She has experience with everything from street food stalls to the world's best Michelin-starred and World's 50 Best Restaurants. Her passion for food doesn't just lie in the goodness of the food itself, but she loves to learn about the history behind local dishes, sometimes even eventually attempting to recreate them at home.
To date, Erin has traveled to over 70 countries on six continents, primarily on food-centric trips. Her travels have taught her to be open, respectful, and to embrace seemingly "bizarre" foods that are important culinary staples in various cultures. Some of the more interesting dishes she's tried include fish sperm sack in Taiwan and Japan, fruit bat in Palau, conch penis in Belize, fugu in Japan, cow udder in the Netherlands, and ant larvae in Mexico.
Meeting and Working with Notable Chefs
Erin's passion for food and culinary history has led her to meet and work with some of the world's best chefs. She is humbled by the people she's met and the foods she has tried, and she hopes to continue telling important and lesser-known food stories that deserve to be shared with the world.
Some of her most memorable food-related encounters include:
- Meeting Chef Joan Roca at El Celler de Can Roca
- Being Chef Joël Robuchon's personal guests at one of his restaurants in Paris
- Meeting Chef Narisawa at his namesake restaurant in Tokyo, Japan
- Becoming good friends with chef Daniel Negreira in Taiwan, who taught Erin everything about molecular gastronomy when she became the English language editor for two of his cookbooks
- Meeting Andrew Zimmern at the Los Angeles Travel Show
- Meeting Chef Rene Redzepi at his Noma pop up in Tulum
Erin's Food Travel Blog
Erin's blog, Our Tasty Travels, has received several notable mentions, including Top Blogs to Watch in 2013, Top 25 Culinary Travel Blogs by TripAdvisor's FlipKey, and a finalist in Flight Centre UK's Top 5 Food Travel Blogs.
Food Travel Posts by Erin De Santiago
- Belize Launches its First Food Tour on Our Tasty Travels
- Great Not to Miss Food Cities on Roam Right Travel Insurance
- How to Enjoy Real Mexican Cuisine in the Yucatan om Roam Right Travel Insurance
Disney Travels
From her earliest childhood memories, Disneyland was a big part of Erin's life. She grew up around 30 minutes from Disneyland in California and once she was old enough, she bought an annual pass. Prior to moving out of Southern California in 2004, Erin was known to visit Disneyland as many as 4 to 5 times per week.
Once she started traveling internationally, she finally fulfilled her dream of visiting all the Disney Parks worldwide. She decided to combine her passion for Disney with work, and is one of the few English speaking writers who cover events and happenings at the Disney Parks worldwide. Erin maintains an annual pass to Disney Parks around the world and visits each of the resorts at least once a year each — before Shanghai opened, she even visited all five in the same month!
While most Disney bloggers and writers are well-versed in the United States Disneyland and Walt Disney World cultures, Erin is more in tune with the Asian Parks. She spends most of her time at Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland, attending multiple events throughout the year.
Disney Writing
Erin previously wrote for Examiner.com as their Worldwide Disney Parks Examiner and also had started her own blog, Disney Globetrotter. She's also written about Disney for TripSavvy, Viator, Roam Right Travel Insurance, Disney Trippers, and more. Her blog is currently being redesigned and should be relaunching soon.
Some of Erin's Disney pieces include:
- Roam Right Travel Insurance: 7 Not-To-Miss Attractions at Disneyland Paris
- AOL Gadling: Disneyland in Sand: Blankenberge Sand Sculpture Festival
- CNNGo: Dim Sum with a Magical Disney Touch
- TripSavvy: 10 Treats to Try at Tokyo Disney
- Roam Right Travel Insurance: Tips for Planning a Trip to Tokyo Disney Resort
Wine
Erin fell in love with wine as soon as she was legally old enough to drink, and immediately started learning more about the winemaking process and the varieties of wine on the market. She moved to Northern California in 2007 just to be closer to Napa and the surrounding wine countries there. Erin had hoped to attend UC Davis' winemaking program until she realized chemistry was a key component in the degree — a subject she absolutely struggles with. Instead of torturing herself with chemistry courses, she began volunteering in a tasting room on the weekends. The winemaker taught her a lot about wine and the winemaking process. Deep down, she still holds on to the dream of becoming a winemaker one day, but for now, she just drinks a lot of wine and writes about her experiences.
In February 2014, Erin received her Certified Specialist in Wine (CSW) Certification from the Society of Wine Educators. She is planning to study for the WSET courses in London soon as well. She's been asked several times why she does not sit for the sommelier exam, but aside from not being in one location long enough to complete the weekly course meetings, Erin prefers to focus more on the history and technical aspects of wine versus the service industry aspects.
Previously, Erin served as the Old World Wine Editor for Suite 101. She's written articles on wine on her culinary travel blog, Our Tasty Travels, as well as posts for other sites.
Published Wine Posts
The Discoverer
Feature on vineyard hotels you can stay at around the world.
Read now: Make Your Next Hotel Stay at a Vineyard
Trivago Magazine
Feature on some of the most luxurious wine country escapes in California for Trivago.
Roam Right Travel Insurance
One of my quarterly blog posts on wine regions you can visit in France.
Read now: Fun Wine Regions to Visit Around France
Erin's Belize Travels
From the moment Erin set foot in Belize back in 2005, she instantly fell in love with the country. She knew one day she'd eventually live there, and after years as a tourist making annual visits, she was able to fulfill her dream. For nearly 10 years, Erin called Ambergris Caye, Belize, her part time home. Until 2019, she was spending an average of six months per year on the island and specializes in content related to Belize.
In 2013, Erin authored the majority of Belize's official visitor magazine, Destination Belize.
She is AFAR Travel Magazine's local Belize Expert and authored the AFAR Guide to Belize. Erin has worked with the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA), even representing the country at a Crisis Management Tourism Media Workshop in Guatemala in 2013.
Utilizing her expertise gained while working on other tourism projects around the world, Erin has partnered with major Belize tourism brands and local media to help promote travel to Belize. She has spoken several times as an expert on blogging in Belize, including at Belize's First Tourism and Marketing Summit and TBEX Cancun, the world's largest conference for travel bloggers and new media specialists. Erin was also the keynote speaker for the Belize Hotel Association's Annual General Meeting in 2017. She has been cited as one of the "Top Belizean Brands to Follow on Twitter."
Lobsterfest Judge
Erin was invited to be a judge at Belize's biggest Lobsterfest celebration in San Pedro for numerous years. She has been involved in charity work on the island, including coordinating a "soup kitchen" event to benefit needy families in San Pedro, Belize.
Published Belize Work
Some of Erin's published works on Belize include:
Trivago Magazine
Feature on six of the best private islands and eco-tourism lodges in Belize for Trivago.
Read now: 6 Luxury Eco-Lodges and Private Island Resorts in Belize
- AFAR Travel Magazine: Official Online Guide to Belize
- BootsNAll (Belizelogue): Itinerary for 10 Days in Belize
- BootsNAll (Belizelogue): What to Eat in Belize: Famous Belizean Foods
- Roam Right Travel Insurance: 5 Not-To-Miss Outdoor Activities in Belize
- Art of Adventuring: Going Slow in Central America: Exploring Caye Caulker's "The Split" in Belize
- No Checked Bags: Belize's BETEX Tourism Conference: Gaining a New Respect for Travel Agents
- Our Tasty Travels Dining in Belize: Casa Picasso Offers Caye Coffee Experience
- Examiner: Red Carpet Premiere of Belize's First Telenovela
- Trivago: 6 Luxury Eco-Lodges and Private Island Resorts in Belize
In addition to her regular writing, look for Erin's new Belize website, Caye To Belize, to launch later this year.