Boutique Hotel- The Term And The Meaning
The term boutique hotel was popularized in North America, and United Kingdom, and it was used to describe small, yet luxurious hotels that were owned and ran as individual businesses. These hotels were also usually unconventional, both due to the fact that they were actually small businesses and to the fact that they strived for originality. They are sometimes referred to as design hotels, or lifestyle hotels. They started appearing in the mid 1980s in the United States, although the trend soon spread to the United Kingdom, and later on, to the rest of the world.
These hotels were usually furnished in an aspirational manner, sometimes themed, but always with a tendency for originality. They are also more often than not considerably smaller than the mainstream hotels. The number of rooms in these hotels vary a lot, but it is usually between three and fifty rooms.
These hotels are always individual, and therefore never are a part of some of the large hotel chain corporations. This is roughly the only really measurable quality of a boutique hotel: it is never a part of a hotel chain.
However, there were some confusions about all this at one moment, as certain hotel corporations started to make "boutique hotels" of their own. This was a move directed towards ensuring a piece of the growing market.
Also, sometimes people confuse the boutique hotels with "bed and breakfast" type accommodations, the later being hostels, unlike boutique hotels which really are hotels in the full meaning of the word, with all the following services and capabilities.
As mentioned, boutique hotels are marked, among other things, by a certain "personality," or better yet, originality that is somewhat of a trademark for them. Sometimes they offer all of the usual hotel commodities to their guests, like high speed Internet, cable TV, telephones etc., but also it is quite common to see boutique hotels that aren`t offering none of the modern gadgets usually fitted in mainstream hotels, but instead offer an atmosphere of piece and tranquilness.
As for the spread of the boutique hotels, in the United States, New York City is still the place where these hotels are extremely popular. Today, new boutique hotels are springing up, and together with the ones established in the eighties and the early nineties take up a good deal of the hotel industry business in New York City. They are usually located around Midtown, and down-town Manhattan.
As you can see, boutique hotels are not the same as hostels or other "bed and breakfast" accommodations. These little hotels have brought a fresh breeze in the otherwise stale climate of the hotel business industry.
These hotels were usually furnished in an aspirational manner, sometimes themed, but always with a tendency for originality. They are also more often than not considerably smaller than the mainstream hotels. The number of rooms in these hotels vary a lot, but it is usually between three and fifty rooms.
These hotels are always individual, and therefore never are a part of some of the large hotel chain corporations. This is roughly the only really measurable quality of a boutique hotel: it is never a part of a hotel chain.
However, there were some confusions about all this at one moment, as certain hotel corporations started to make "boutique hotels" of their own. This was a move directed towards ensuring a piece of the growing market.
Also, sometimes people confuse the boutique hotels with "bed and breakfast" type accommodations, the later being hostels, unlike boutique hotels which really are hotels in the full meaning of the word, with all the following services and capabilities.
As mentioned, boutique hotels are marked, among other things, by a certain "personality," or better yet, originality that is somewhat of a trademark for them. Sometimes they offer all of the usual hotel commodities to their guests, like high speed Internet, cable TV, telephones etc., but also it is quite common to see boutique hotels that aren`t offering none of the modern gadgets usually fitted in mainstream hotels, but instead offer an atmosphere of piece and tranquilness.
As for the spread of the boutique hotels, in the United States, New York City is still the place where these hotels are extremely popular. Today, new boutique hotels are springing up, and together with the ones established in the eighties and the early nineties take up a good deal of the hotel industry business in New York City. They are usually located around Midtown, and down-town Manhattan.
As you can see, boutique hotels are not the same as hostels or other "bed and breakfast" accommodations. These little hotels have brought a fresh breeze in the otherwise stale climate of the hotel business industry.
