What is a boutique hotel? Although trendy, it is still a mystery to most travelers. A boutique hotel and a regular hotel differ in certain ways. When looking for a more private, comfortable, and hospitable place to stay, a boutique hotel is your best bet.
The best boutique hotels provide a sense of belonging, just like your home does. Before you book a boutique hotel, take the time to learn what it is and how it differs from a regular hotel. In this detailed guide, we define a boutique hotel, explore its origins, discuss its features, and highlight its examples.
What is a Boutique Hotel?
Countless travelers around the world want an answer to this question: What is a boutique hotel? There is no specific definition for a boutique hotel. However, experts in the industry define it as a small, privately-owned hotel with unique and customized guest services.
If you visualize a boutique hotel, you should see a well-equipped facility that provides the most intimate and home-like living experience. Its luxurious features and personalized guest services make the place feel more personal than transient. Its interior décor can be minimalist or contemporary, but both styles draw inspiration from the local culture.
A hotel with fewer than one hundred rooms is small enough to qualify as a boutique hotel. Still, it must distinguish itself from a chain hotel by individualizing its guest services. Although you can find a boutique hotel anywhere, the most probable location is the CBD or any posh residential district.
Distinctive Features of a Boutique Hotel
What are the features of a Boutique Hotel? A few notable features and traits give a hotel a boutique status, including:
Small-Sized and Culturally Adapted
A boutique hotel is smaller in size and scale than a conventional hospitality establishment. Its room number ranges from ten to one hundred. Boutique hotels are more attractive to travelers who seek intimacy and privacy. Besides being small, a boutique hotel adapts to the local culture better than large-scale, world-class hotels. Thus, you can connect with the locals much faster in a boutique hotel.
Unique Interior and Exterior Designs
Many people enjoy living in boutique hotels because they feel and look like home. Their interior and exterior designs are as authentic and charming as their residences. A boutique hotel’s architectural design often mimics its surroundings. The interiors usually include artistic designs that evoke the locality’s natural beauty and cultural influences. Its exclusive design portrays the owner’s creativity and unique fashion sense.
Customized Guest Service
A trait you can use to recognize a hotel with a boutique status is a personalized guest service. Large-scale hotels often advertise their guest service as unique and intimate, but what a boutique hotel offers is unrivalled. Since a boutique hotel operates fewer guest rooms, its guest service is more customized and friendlier. Service attendants can recognize their guests by name and preferences. A boutique hotel can arrange unique wellness retreats, guided local tours, adventures, camps in the wild, guided shopping excursions, etc. Its ability to adapt its ambiance and service delivery to the customer’s needs makes the boutique hotel more distinctive.
Setting
As aforementioned, a boutique hotel’s most popular location is the heart of a city. Central Business Districts of large cities and popular towns are often culturally-rich, stylish, attractive, and lively. A boutique hotel requires such an atmosphere to thrive. Since boutique hotels adapt to the culture of their localities, you can find them near historic sites and other famous tourist attractions. Other options are rich and posh residential districts or geographically attractive areas away from the city. Although most boutique hotels are in busy areas, a few options are in resorts near the sea or ocean.
Private Ownership
Many boutique hotels belong to individual entrepreneurs. The few remaining ones are a subsidiary of a hotel chain. This ownership type allows the owner to exercise their creativity when decorating the exterior and interior areas of their hotel. They customize guest experiences without following any restrictive corporate protocols.
Origins of a Boutique Hotel
Even if a boutique hotel is as small as an inn, a B&B, or a motel, it is not a vintage tourist facility. Its concept began evolving in the nineteen eighties. Many experts in the hotel industry did not consider it a viable category by the beginning of the next decade.
They did not even have a name for it yet. Industry experts today feel that the first boutique hotel was either the Morgans Hotel or the Clarion Bedford Hotel. Morgan’s Hotel emerged in New York City in 1984, and its founders were Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell. The two introduced the hotel lobby style that enabled guests to gather in a beautifully designed space.
Bill Kimpton established the Clarion Bedford Hotel in San Francisco in 1981. He is also the founder of the renowned Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants that IHG later acquired. Many hotel industry experts believe that Bill originated the boutique hotel movement.
Boutique Hotel vs Regular Hotel
How a boutique hotel is different from a regular hotel? A regular hotel is often a subsidiary of a large-scale chain. Its appearance and guest service look and feel the same everywhere. Although subsidiaries and the main chain hotel are in different cities, their services and amenities resemble each other.
This uniformity is convenient for travelers who like predictable and dependable accommodation experiences. On the other hand, boutique luxury accommodation specialize in originality and elegance. Each guest room can have unique interior décor and ambiance. A boutique hotel strives to adapt its services and amenities to the requirements of its guests. One way it tries to fascinate its guests is by including the local cultural influences.
This may entail cooking local cuisines or designing the rooms with locally available materials. How a boutique hotel is different from a regular hotel? Here are summarized differences:
Size
Regular hotels usually have 100 to 1000 or more guest rooms. On the contrary, boutique hotels often have 10 to 100 guest rooms. This limited capacity not only sets boutique hotels apart in terms of guest experience but also gives them the flexibility to create unique themes and tailor services to individual preferences, something that’s more challenging in large-scale hotel operations.
Personality
Regular hotels have the same personality. Their nature is to maintain the same service type and delivery in every subsidiary. Additionally, their amenities, architecture, and décor are similar everywhere. On the other hand, boutique hotels have no restrictive protocols that determine their décor, service delivery, cuisine, etc. Each boutique hotel room or subsidiary can appear as unique as the owner wishes. Boutique hotel rooms are uniquely designed, offering guests a personalized experience that reflects local culture or the owner’s creative touch.
Ownership
Regular hotels are usually part of larger chains. Conversely, boutique hotels are mainly private properties. Only a few belong to larger hotel chains. Boutique hotels, being mostly independently owned, have greater flexibility to create unique atmospheres and personalized guest experiences, reflecting local culture.
Location
How does a boutique hotel location vary from that of a regular hotel? You will mostly find boutique hotels in posh city centers and lavish residential places with easy access to social amenities. On the contrary, you will find most hotels where several tourist attractions and large cities are located.
Staff
A standard hotel employs many different employees. Some employees are supervisors while others are cleaners, waiters, chefs, housekeepers, receptionists, etc. Conversely, a boutique hotel employs a few employees to maintain a family-like atmosphere.
Amenities
A regular hotel aims to provide the most essential amenities for guests. Since boutique hotels want to replicate a family-like atmosphere, they provide unique amenities. A few extra features include a private balcony, luxurious bathing tubs, dressing rooms, etc. Boutique hotels want to create a more inviting and comfortable environment by offering advanced and exotic amenities.
Local Tourism
Typical hotels aim to attract any tourist who wants a place to stay. Their facilities offer the same services and amenities no matter the location. On the other hand, boutique hotels adapt their architecture and guest services to their neighborhoods. You can access the same amenities the locals do, including eating at their favorite inns. A boutique hotel can help you explore its geographical location better than any regular hotel.
Examples of a Boutique Hotel
Boutique hotels began in the U.S., and they perform well. If you plan to start a boutique hotel, you can draw inspiration from the best-performing examples.
These are the places you can visit to experience and see a boutique hotel for the first time. What are the best boutique hotel examples in the U.S.? Here are the top 10 options, according to Tripadvisor.com and other websites:
- Wentworth Mansion – Charleston, SC.
- The Jefferson –Washington, DC.
- The Inn of the Five Graces – Santa Fe, NM.
- Hotel Wailea – Wailea, Maui, HI.
- Artezen Hotel – 24 John Street, NY.
- Hotel Hive – Washington, DC.
- Williamsburg Inn – Williamsburg, VA.
- The Verb Hotel – Boston, Massachusetts.
- The Neighborhood Hotel Little Italy – Chicago.
- The Bryant Park Hotel – NY.
Types of Boutique Hotel Visitors
A boutique hotel attracts visitors who seek a more intimate, comfortable, and luxurious place. The main guest types who frequent boutique hotels include:
Individual Travelers
These guests travel alone in search of a serene and intimate environment. Solo travelers choose boutique hotels because they are small-scale establishments with essential and exotic amenities and a direct link to the local culture. For instance, most provide a private balcony to help you watch the surroundings without interference.
Couples
Boutique hotels are ideal accommodation facilities for lovers and spouses. They offer a higher level of intimacy and privacy than chain hotels. Boutique hotels can customize a package to meet a couple’s expectations and interests.
Corporate Travelers
Boutique hotels attract many entrepreneurs and corporate experts who travel for work reasons. These establishments are suitable for work and vacation, allowing these travelers to enjoy both worlds.
Family Travelers
Boutique hotel customers also include families that look for the same environment as home. These hotels decorate their rooms like real residences and provide amenities that increase comfort. That makes them more family-friendly.
Travelers Seeking Luxury
Regular chain hotels provide a high level of comfort. However, they do not personalize their facilities as boutique hotels do. Customers who reserve rooms in boutique hotels do not mind paying a hefty fee for the extra class and comfort.
Benefits of Boutique Hotels to Owners
Perhaps owning a hotel is one of your lifetime dreams. Why should you consider establishing a boutique hotel? Here are the advantages of this hotel type:
Big Profits per Available Room
Since boutique hotels provide a more personal experience than a hotel room, they attract upscale guests. These are willing to pay a premium rate in exchange for this exclusive experience. Thus, every available room offers a chance to earn higher revenue than you would from a regular hotel room.
Loyal Customers
A boutique hotel is small enough to attract guests it can bond with. Staff can know guests by their personal details, like their name. Besides, their unique interior and exterior décor, personalized guest services, and strive to create memorable experiences attract repeat customers.
Quick Response to Market Trends
A boutique hotel is easier to manage, as it has fewer rooms and workers. Managers can decide on matters quickly to resolve conflicts and respond to changing market trends. This is why most boutique hotels are successful and popular.
Branding is Easier
Branding a hotel business is one of the toughest activities you can do. However, branding a boutique business is much easier because it is a special niche in the wider hotel industry. Achieving brand recognition for this niche market is easier compared to a large-scale hotel chain.
Social Responsibility
Most boutique hotels source materials locally, which allow them to support the local economy. They also source most of their workers from their neighborhoods and get their hotel supplies from local vendors. Thus, boutique hotels participate in social responsibility while offering their guests authentic and high-class services.
Location in Major Destinations
Boutique hotels are usually in well-known tourist destinations. You will find them in most CBDs, historic sites, and other tourist attractions. They also offer customized services to guests, including guided tours, so they can help guests explore a particular geographic destination. Thus, a boutique hotel can make more money for you by offering personalized packages that can enable guests to explore the locality.
What Do Successful Boutique Hotels Do Uniquely?
If you want to start this hotel type, you need tips for success. These are the tips that most successful boutique hotels follow to stay at the top of their competition. They include the following:
Create an Authentic and Distinctive Concept
Boutique hotels are individualistic. They draw inspiration from local culture, art, cuisine, history, etc. To start a unique boutique hotel, define your concept or theme first. Make it as authentic as possible. Then, align every feature of your hotel with your theme.
Personalize Guest Service
The first thing is to train your staff how to be friendly, attentive, and polite. Then, customize your rooms by including locally-inspired artwork and extra amenities that crowded chain hotels do not have. Lastly, customize tour packages to help your customers explore the neighborhood without buying services from a different company.
Focus of Topnotch Designing
Boutique hotels have no restrictive protocols that limit their design acumen. Enjoy the freedom of transforming your hotel with unique design elements, including wall art, furniture, and architectural focal points. Make every guest room unique with designer masterpieces that your guests will never forget.
Offer Exclusive Local Experiences
Successful boutique hotels do not work alone. They partner with local travel companies, eateries, artisans, and other vendors to position themselves as a tourism getaway. This creative approach can help you strengthen your brand and attract travelers who plan to explore local tourism. At the same time, it can help you build cohesion with other businesses.
Use Digital Marketing Approaches
Many successful boutique hotels have a website and social media presence. They advertise their services on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other popular social sites. You can do the same to help your boutique hotel reach current and new audiences. A search engine optimization tactic like adding keywords to your posts can help you target people seeking boutique hotels?
Besides the above, be sure to accept customer feedback. Even if customers criticize your services, listen to them to know how to make amends. Another way is to give your customers incentives for coming back. This is to encourage them to become loyal to you.
Lastly, do not forget to adapt your business to the changing technology trends, as these can widen your reach and help reinforce your brand identity.
Final Thoughts
A boutique hotel differentiates itself from a chain hotel via unique design, service delivery, and authenticity. It is a good business idea for anyone looking to join the hotel industry. A boutique hotel is also a perfect choice for travelers who want to experience luxury, tranquility, and intimacy.