Should I Ask Or Wait To Be Offered?

Making a list, checking it twice… That was me a few days ago, planning a mini-break rather than doing anything to do with Christmas. Unusually for me, I have lots of holiday allowance to use up, so I wanted something short-haul, ideally sunny and not too expensive. Madeira hit the spot and I wanted to visit a good variety of restaurants, beaches, attractions and other fun stuff.

Funnily enough, everyone I told I was going there asked, “are you staying at Reid’s Palace?”, as the hotel is almost synonymous with the island and gets rave reviews in every publication. I wasn’t, as my end-of-year budget is rather less than my end-of-year annual leave!

But I was intrigued to see the Belmond-brand hotel, having heard so much about it – and that’s where this lengthy preamble is taking us. Should I get the PR details and ask if I could visit – for tea or a drink or something? It would be unlikely to result in anything more than a social post about recommended food and drink spots on the island.

I decided against it; I’m a bit squeamish about asking for straight-up freebies even if I think they’re reasonably legitimate, for now or something later down the line. Am I a) not understanding of how things work? Or b) overly cautious? Or c) maybe somewhere in between and if so, part of the pack or in a tiny minority?

I’d really like to know so please do tell me – I’m at lisa.markwell@telegraph.co.uk. In this instance, I’m referring to journalists soliciting goods or services, rather than accepting them when offered. The latter is always very welcome indeed and I’ve come back from Madeira to some lovely emails, for which thank you. (Oh and do visit the island if you get the chance – it’s fab!).