Blue Astoria Media Group

Blue Astoria Media Group is an independent British digital publisher based in London. Registered in England and Wales as Blue Astoria Media Group Ltd (company no. 12187901), it was incorporated in 2019 and has been publishing since that year. Its registered office is at 8 Voss Street, London E2 6JE. The company describes itself as "a publisher, on the record," and its model is to build, own and operate specialist editorial platforms rather than to act as an agency or a network of third-party sites. The company's portfolio consists of three titles, each with its own website, readership and editorial approach. Petal Republic (petalrepublic.com), launched in 2019, covers flowers, plants and floristry and is led by Editorial Director Andrew Gaumond; it holds a trade mark in the UK and the US. Spa Hotel Finder (spahotelfinder.com), launched in 2025, publishes independent spa-hotel reviews, each scored using the title's own SpaRator scoring method. Paris Playbook (parisplaybook.com), also launched in 2025, is a lighter-touch locals' guide to Paris covering news, events, stays and dining. Blue Astoria Media Group is run by its founder, James Sinclair, who founded the company in 2019 and remains directly involved in running the business and its titles. His background is in commercial and partnership roles at The Telegraph, Condé Nast International and Time Out Group, and he holds an Executive MBA from ESCP Business School. The company states that enquiries reach the founder directly, with no sales team in between, and that each partnership is agreed with the individual title it runs on. The company works with affiliate networks and merchants across all three titles, with hotels, spas and travel brands for Spa Hotel Finder and Paris Playbook, and flower delivery, plant and garden brands for Petal Republic. It also sells display advertising across its titles. Editorial is produced by in-house human teams with experience and qualifications in each title's field, and the company emphasises named specialists and proprietary methods as points of differentiation. Contact is handled through hello@blueastoria.com.

Blue Astoria Media Group was founded in 2019 by James Sinclair, who had previously held commercial and partnership roles at The Telegraph, Condé Nast International and Time Out Group, and who holds an Executive MBA from ESCP Business School. The company was incorporated in England and Wales as Blue Astoria Media Group Ltd under company number 12187901, with its registered office at 8 Voss Street, London E2 6JE. It has been publishing since 2019. The company's first title, Petal Republic, launched in 2019 and covers flowers, plants and floristry. It is led by Editorial Director Andrew Gaumond and holds a trade mark in both the UK and the US. Petal Republic established the company's approach of owning and running its titles in-house, each with its own site, readership and editorial approach. In 2025 the company expanded its portfolio with two further titles. Spa Hotel Finder (spahotelfinder.com) publishes independent spa-hotel reviews, each scored using SpaRator, a scoring method built specifically for that title. Paris Playbook (parisplaybook.com) is described as a lighter-touch title: a locals' guide to Paris covering news, events, stays and eats. With these launches, Blue Astoria Media Group operated three titles across the travel, spa and horticulture verticals. Throughout its history the company has emphasised in-house ownership and operation of its titles, human-written and curated editorial by expert teams, named specialists, and proprietary methods. It works with affiliate networks and merchants across all three titles — hotels, spas and travel brands for Spa Hotel Finder and Paris Playbook, and flower delivery, plant and garden brands for Petal Republic — and sells display advertising across the portfolio. The company states that enquiries reach founder James Sinclair directly, with no sales team in between, and that terms are agreed per title to fit each readership.

• 2025

  Spa Hotel Finder launches, publishing independent spa-hotel reviews scored with the SpaRator method.

• 2025

  Paris Playbook launches as a locals' guide to Paris covering news, events, stays and eats.

• 2019

  Blue Astoria Media Group is founded by James Sinclair and incorporated in England and Wales as Blue Astoria Media Group Ltd (company no. 12187901).

• 2019

  Petal Republic launches, covering flowers, plants and floristry.

An independent, founder-run London publisher of owned specialist editorial titles, differentiated by in-house human editorial teams, named specialists and proprietary methods such as the SpaRator scoring system.

• Petal Republic

  Flower, plant and floristry editorial title launched in 2019, led by Editorial Director Andrew Gaumond, with a trade mark in the UK and US.

• Spa Hotel Finder

  Independent spa-hotel review title launched in 2025, scoring each review with the SpaRator method.

• Paris Playbook

  A lighter-touch locals' guide to Paris covering news, events, stays and eats, launched in 2025.

1. 1Blue Astoria Media Group · A publisher, on the recordblueastoria.com
2. 2About · Blue Astoria Media Groupblueastoria.com
3. 3Blue Astoria Media Group (Q140718954)wikidata.org