MzPossum

Really showing my ignorance here, but what is a Boutique hotel? I heard that term for the first time yesterday, then on this board today. Seems we have one in New Orleans, but I don't know what they are.

Patrick

Funny you should ask. Did you see the current thread called "Boutique Hotel"?
To summarize I think that boutique is a term used to make attractive a hotel that is more trendy than comfortable. It also seems to be a way of saying "our rooms are really tiny and uncomfortable, but isn't the decor cool?"

Here's something I posted on that thread about one experience I had with a "boutique" hotel in NYC.

"The Muse is a boutique hotel. That's a nice way of saying, "hey we're giving you trendiness to make up for the lack of comfort and room". Our room there had a bed against the wall so you couldn't get in on one side. A TV that was placed so it couldn't be seen from the only chair in the room. Air conditioning/heat that wouldn't work because it was behind the heavy shades you had to drop if you wanted either privacy from the adjacent windows or darkness. No closet space. No place in the bathroom to set out your toiletries. And my personal favorite -- the main picture on the wall permanently screwed on upside down."

Craig

I always thought a boutique hotel was a small hotel with all of the amenities of a large upscale hotel but more personalized service.

jimshep

Patrick's description gave me a good laugh, and there is much truth in it. However, a "boutique hotel" can also be a small luxury hotel with pleasant rooms. Asking, "What is a botique hotel?" is much like asking "What is a resort?"

Dick

I agree that a boutique hotel is a small hotel...usually European in styling and frequently a higher property.

Tandoori_Girl

I tend to think of a boutique hotel as a small "unique" hotel (never a chain) that is sort of European. I've stayed in a few and I like their coziness, their differentness, their way of treating guests as guests not numbers. It's probably "in" to call oneself a boutique hotel, as Patrick says, but the real boutique hotels gain their name from others opinions of them, IMHO. Maybe many of those who advertise that they are "boutique" only wish they were.

MzPossum

Thanks for the responses! Yes, Patrick, I did see your post on the other thread--gave me a good laugh!

Craig

There are many boutique hotels in the world (for example in Southeast Asia) that are not European in styling at all.

jimshep

This site tells you everything you need to know from an "industry" perspective: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4...tel+definition

Patrick

Interesting article, jimshep, thanks for posting it.
But I still think their word "intimate" is a euphemism for "tiny" or "cramped".

wtggirl

While it is true that there are no large, roomy boutique hotels....that does not mean all small cramped hotels are therefore boutique. Boutique hotels should be considered "intimate" and ranging somewhere from artsy to eclectic- depending on the interpretation. In some cases this could seem like the designers of Trading Spaces moved in and transformed the place in a magical two days. Think clothing boutique (small with unique style) versus large departments store (large and generic).

Scarlett

There are some large roomy boutique hotels, just depends on the hotel I guess.
I tend to look for smaller, more intimate and luxurious hotels rather than Hiltons, etc. The service is usually better, the hotels are usually better cared for.
At least that is our experience.
I guess one could look at the name as being the same in a store as in a hotel, a boutique is a small store with more unique, interesting and sometimes more expensive items..the hotel would run along those same lines..IMHO~

Patrick

I certainly didn't mean to imply that ALL small roomed or cramped hotels were boutique.

For example if a small hotel room had a comfortable old chair covered in floral fabric, it probably wouldn't be a boutique hotel. The boutique hotel would have replaced it with a molded poly-resin-vinyl chair in lime green that will break your back if you sit on it. Remember the key word is "style" not "comfort".

Scarlett

Patrick, The Muse ? LOL It sounds terrible

We have been lucky to stay in the complete opposite. The Le Germain in Montreal, white down comforters, big windows with dark wooden blinds, showers that are the size of small rooms.. I think in NYC, one might be better off staying in the old tried and true, Big Hotels..at least they give you what you are expecting~

jimshep

I stayed at the Bella Maggiore Inn in Ventura, California, which is a small hotel converted from a bank. The room and bath were generous in size. In the evening they served wine, cheese, and crudités and in the morning they provided a full waiter-served breakfast. This reasonably priced place gives "boutique hotels" a good name. But I think it is an exception.

rkkwan

Most people would consider "W" a boutique hotel, but it's a major chain, owned by Starwood, one of the largest lodging companies of the world.

JackOneill

I would never consider the W to be a boutique simply because it is a chain and because they try way too hard to create the illusion that they are a boutique.

For boutique, look at the Teatro in Denver, the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, the Gardens Hotel in Key West, the Covent Garden Hotel in London.

All of these hotels, and others whose names escape me, are very comfortable. And I have been extremely pleased with all of them. And have gotten great service, and have experienced great attention to detail. (And I hate spending money pointlessly.)

I guess some people have a chip on their shoulder about the word boutique.

Patrick

Wow, I guess some of us just have a different idea of what a boutique hotel is, Jack. I know two of those hotels you just mentioned, and yes, they are wonderful small and comfortable hotels. I never associated the word "boutique" with them, however. The Covent Garden Hotel is most concerned with giving first class and traditional comfort to its guests. They aren't intent on being trendy at all costs of comfort. I always DO associate the term with a hotel that is trying too hard to be all style rather than comfort -- a hotel where being part of a scene is more important than being taken care of. And yes, I do consider the W hotels to be boutiques because that is pretty much what they claimed to be -- the "boutique" line of the Westin chain. I never felt that being a chain would eliminate them from that boutique label.
Now with all that being said, I realize it is impossible to draw a fine line and put boutique hotels on one side and non-boutique hotels on the other, but I have my own general feeling of what it all means to me.

By the way, my favorite hotels in the world are small and refined comfortable hotels, just like The Covent Garden Hotel!

RufusTFirefly

Boutique hotels are supposed to be small (in terms of the number of rooms) luxury hotels. The word "intimate" used in conjunction with boutique hotels means that the place doesn't have thousands of guests so you aren't just one of the faceless crowd. A true boutique hotel should offer more personalized service than most hotels.

A true boutique hotel will have spacious, comfortable rooms with a design and furnishings that are uniquely selected for that property. It might be trendy, or it might not, but it should be unique in some way with a signature style. This, of course, makes them more expensive than larger chain properties.

Of course the term "boutique hotel" is not protected, so just about any place with four walls can term itself as such. "The map is not the territory; the word is not the thing."

GoTravel

When I think of a boutique hotel, I think of the Claussen's Inn in Columbia, South Carolina.

It is a small, lux (doesn't have to be luxury) hotel that is bigger than a B&B and smaller than a hotel. It should have unique decor and be in a trendy location.

Unfortunately, the term has liberal meaning.