What are Boutique Hotels?
The travel industry is huge and there are many huge organizations involved which own numerous hotels with one or more properties in most of the world’s important cities such as London in Great Britain. However there are also a great many individuals and families who run small hotels, guest houses or other accommodation. It is often the case that many of us choose to stay in such accommodation rather than one of the well known, and rather more expensive, hotels which often seem very much the same whichever city you are in. Over the last few decades it has become common for accommodation to be advertised as a “boutique hotel” and this article examines exactly what it is that makes it “boutique”.
As you may have gathered from the above paragraph boutique hotels are usually far more intimate than larger establishments. A boutique hotel is usually one which has a great deal of character offering something a little out of the ordinary. Originating in North America these types of hotels are often smaller, usually privately run, luxurious hotels offering a highly personalized service not often found in the, much larger, branded hotels and motels.
About thirty years ago society became a little more stylized and style conscious and many attempted to create a distinctive style and culture that influenced all aspects of their life. For an increasing number of folk the style became incredibly important and the demand for hotels which more closely matched such lifestyles increased. A number of small hotels attempted to meet this demand and they became known as design/designer hotels or lifestyle hotels.
While there are several boutique hotels which claim to be the very first two seem to have the strongest. Morgans Hotel in New York and San Francisco’s hotel Vintage Court. Morgans Hotel (owned by Ian Schrager) opened in 1984 having been designed by Andre Putman but Vintage Court, owned by Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc. which owns many boutique hotels, opened in 1983.
While many of the large hotel chains have a distinctive corporate image to uphold, which often translates into their hotels being rather similar, boutique hotels are not so restricted. In fact such hotels more often aim to be as different as possible and many owners choose to design their hotel around a specific theme or style. If you are visiting the city of London and you appreciate the style of Spanish-Americans then you will find the Church Street Hotel very much to your liking. It’s interiors are richly decorated in a Cubano style with matching art work and furnished in superb Colonialist furniture.
As the interest in boutique hotels developed rather rapidly with hotels appearing in many different styles it was a while before the larger chains began to realize the potential benefits of opening such hotels. As mentioned many of the major cities of the world have a growing number of boutique hotels and London certainly has it’s fair share. Interestingly the hotel chain Best Western have entered the boutique hotel market with their Shaftesbury Kensington which is described as boutique and has all of the modern facilities you would expect from a Best Western hotel. Such actions have slightly blurred the previously accepted definition and there is now a little confusion around what is a true boutique hotel.
Of all the boutique hotels in London one of the most interesting addresses is that of the, Red Carnation, 41 Hotel which is situated opposite the Royal Mews of Buckingham Palace. This five star boutique hotel is superbly placed within minutes of Buckingham palace itself, Pall Mall and other important London attractions. Staying at 41 Buckingham Palace Road, London, just has a certain ring to it when you tell friends where you stayed.
Yes it would seem that wherever you turn these days a boutique hotel is opening. In August 2008 there is even a boutique hotel opening on the remote Isle of Harris which is a small island off the west coast of Scotland. While there are certainly plenty to choose from the very nature of these hotels means that it is highly unlikely that you will ever find two that are the same. I for one will be booking into such a hotel when I next visit London or anywhere else.
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