Author : Migle Aliukeviciute

Supervisor : Senior lecturer Dr. Raminta Andreja Ligeikiene

Boutique hotels’ evolution

Abstract

Recent studies in the hospitality management field illustrate that small hotels, boutique type are increasing their market share. The increasing popularity of boutique hotels satisfies a need for more sophisticated, personalized and intimate hospitality services. The innovative and diverse nature of these hotels makes their identification difficult. Purpose – This paper aims to identify boutique hotels and describe their evolution. The study methods included a review of literature. Anotacija

Vartotojų poreikių pokyčiai lemia ir vartotojų poreikių tenkinimo pokyčius. Viena iš šių pokyčių tendencijų – populiar÷jantys boutique viešbučiai. Straipsnyje analizuojama boutique viešbučio samprata, aptariama raida bei atsiradimo prielaidos. Straipsnio tikslas: pateikti boutique viešbučio sampratą ir jų raidą. Darbo metodai: literatūros ir internetinių šaltinių analiz÷.

Introduction Since 1980 cultural tourism has been growing as a direct result of the rising interest for art, culture and history. This shift in demand can be explained by demographic, social and cultural changes. One aspect of cultural tourism development is the new forms of hospitality industry called boutique hotels. As recent studies in the field illustrate, the hotel market has undergone a transformation in favour of small hotels, boutique type. Concept and features of a Boutique hotel

Rabontu and Niculescu (2009) in order to define the concept of boutique hotel, one has to define these two separate terms. Thus, boutique is the name given to the small and luxurious stores that sell goods on small series and the hotel is the building with furnished rooms that offer the possibility of hiring on short-term, especially to travellers. The concept of boutique hotel is strongly opposed to big chain hotels as it describes hotels reduced in size, located in prestigious areas, furnished with unusual furniture, and designed to offer an intimate and/or family atmosphere. Unlike big chain hotels, boutique hotels offer a unique experience. Certainly their small size can offer privacy and discretion to customers. Boutique hotels are able get to know customers very well and offer services tailored to their needs and preferences that large hotels cannot.

In another attempt to define boutique hotel, Hartesvelt (2006) distinguishes common features which are found in today's modern version of boutique hotels. These features are illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1 Features of boutique hotels

Size Boutiques typically range from 20 to 150 rooms. The ability to provide the intense personal service

required of a boutique becomes exponentially more difficult above 200 rooms.

Upscale It is almost impossible to offer a boutique experience below the upscale level of at least four stars.

Restaurant Boutique hotels usually have high-class restaurants.

Not for large

groups

Boutiques should have limited meeting space. When a boutique depends on the group meeting

segment for more than 10%-15% of its weekday demand, the hotel begins to lose its unique

personality.

Building Boutiques typically are housed in older, unique structures that have been converted from another use.

These structures help the property exude a unique personality and often bring tax-credits that will

help the project pencil out.

Location Location for a boutique is not as important as for a branded hotel.

Lobbies Boutique lobbies generally are much smaller than conventional hotels, which make the guest

experience much more intimate

Profit Properly run boutiques will have lower operating costs and higher margins than branded hotels.

Agget (2007) states a difficulty in determining the number of boutique hotels, partly due to a difficulty in defining these hotels. Table 2 illustrates the definitions found in the review of the literature.

2 Table

Definitions of a boutique hotels ( International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management)

Therefore, with the reference to the definitions in Table 2, we are able to identify the following features of boutique hotel, which can describe most boutique hotels: unique design, up to 50 rooms and high level of quality and customized service.

Boutique hotels’ evolution

As it was mentioned before, Freund de Klumbis and Munsters ( 2005) explain that based on demographic, social and cultural changes, the fast growth cultural tourism has undergone since 1980 and is a direct result of the rising interest for art, culture and history. These changes influenced the choice of the hospitality product as a factor of the guest’s cultural experience. With regard to the demographic factors, the strong increase of senior citizens in the Western world has significantly extended the market for boutique hotels since the interest for culture grows with one’s age. Furthermore the customer of luxury hospitality industry consists of a growing number of retired, active, moneyed people in excellent health. All this makes this market segment an interesting target group for the luxury hospitality industry. The expansion of the international hotel chains, in their vast majority, was accompanied and made possible by a process of standardization and commoditization. This process generated the birth of the box hotel concept, characterized by the uniformity of the core and facilitating products. The lack of differentiation between the hospitality products and services resulted finally in a “McDonaldisation” of the global hotel industry. This systematic standardization of the hospitality product provoked a counter-movement inspired by consumers

searching for hotels with unique or sophisticated and innovative characteristics, called boutique, design or lifestyle hotels. Sophistication and innovation explain the growth of the boutique, design and lifestyle hotel niches. In order to employ a generic term for these new niches, it is referred to the boutique, design and lifestyle concepts expressing these by the term - lifestyle hotels. Freund de Klumbis and Munsters ( 2005) identify that the first features of boutique hotels appeared in Las Vegas, because various hotels in Las Vegas base their design philosophy on the idea of replicating places and cities (e.g. The Venetian Hotel and Casino, The Paris Hotel and Casino). Anhar ( 2001) prescribes that Boutique hotels are believed to have been invented in the early 1980s. Two of the first boutique hotels in the world opened their doors to the public in 1981: The Blakes Hotel in South Kensington, London (designed by celebrity stylist Anouska Hempel) and the Bedford Hotel in San Francisco. 1983 the first boutique hotel with a theme – „Hotel Vintage Court” in San Francisco establishes wine-related focus. Freund de Klumbis and Munsters ( 2005) explain that the most important and subtle turning point in the development of interior design trends for the contemporary hotel was the introduction of the narrative into design brought by Ian Schrager and followed by Jean Nouvel. 1994 " Boutique Hotel" concept receives first public recognition as a travel "Accommodations" category by Kuoni Travel. McIntosh and Siggs (2005) investigate the reasons of the boutique hotel customers in New Zeland for choosing to stay in these hotels rather than in more traditional accommodation. This study concludes that there are five key dimensions setting the boutique sector apart from the traditional offerings. These are the “unique character”, the “personalized or personal touch”, the “homely feel of the accommodation”, the “high quality standards offered” and the “value-added” nature of the physical location, knowledge and culture of the hosts. Keeps ( 2006) explains that the boutique hotel is trying to grow up, and historical referents - architectural and decorative - serve as a convenient shorthand for maturity, and a mark of glamour. Table 3 illustrates Top 10 Boutique Hotels Worldwide published by Gayot.com

3 Table

Top 10 Boutique Hotels Worlwide

Nr Name Country Rooms Features

1. Maison 140 United

States,

California

43 Four-poster beds, vintage furniture with vibrant colours, unique

decorative touches. Deluxe Italian linen. Redesigned by Kelly

Wearstler.

2. Glenmere United

States, New

York

19 Marble staircases, ornamental metalwork, murals and elaborate

gardens. All rooms are decorated differently, but each of the

nineteen rooms boast slick Carrara marble in the bathrooms. .

3. Royce

Hotel

Australia,

Melbourne

100 Italian marble, SPA, sophisticated upholstery.

4. Hotel France, 48 This six-story stone-clad, late-nineteenth-century building boasts

Franklin D.

Roosevelt

Paris fully soundproofed rooms, a patio garden for breakfast or tea.

5. Amandari Indonesia,

Bali

30 Designed in the same style as the nearby villages and offers a

glimpse of the indigenous lifestyle combined with a luxurious spa,

pool and tennis court. Each thatched suite features a garden

courtyard, outdoor sunken marble tub, local teak and coconut wood.

6. Relais

Santa Croce

Italy,

Florence

24 Parquet floors and frescoed ceilings, Rooms boast period furniture,

elegant upholstery and marble-tiled bathrooms complete with rain

showerheads and built-in Turkish baths.

7. Quinta da

Bela Vista

Portugal,

Funchal

32 Marble bathrooms, fine paintings and antique furniture.

8. The Upper

House

China, Honk

Kong

117 Stylish furnishings, limestone floors, harbour or island views, as

well as bathrooms complete with panoramic windows, walk-in rain

showers and free-standing bathtubs.

9. Berns Hotel Sweden,

Stockholm

65 Unique touches abound here, including the lobby, which doubles as

a living art gallery, displaying works by local and international

artists.

10. Kensington

House

Hotel

United

Kingdom,

London

41 The hotel has been restored to its 19th-Century elegance and offers

just 41 sleek rooms, all with large windows and modern furniture

and fittings.

To sum up, with reference to Table 3, we can determine that usually boutique hotels are characterized with a sophisticated furniture and design. Also, this type of hotel usually is situated in the city centre and approximately has 50 rooms. Conclusion

Demand of boutique hotels have undergone since 1980, because of cultural tourism intensification and the appearance of target group for the luxury hospitality industry. There is no certain definition of boutique hotels. In spite of this it is well known that the boutique hotels should characterize with three common features. This is the contemporary, sophisticated and unique design. Secondly, the room number in the boutique hotels usually does not exceed 50 rooms in order to offer the customers’ privacy and discretion. Finally, another boutique hotel’s feature is the unique level of service. References

1. Cecilia Irina Rabontu, George Niculencu (2009) Boutique hotels – New appearances in hotel industry in Romania. Annals of University of Petrosani, Economics, 9(2), 209 – 214. Available at: http://www.upet.ro/en/annals/pdf/annals-2009-part2.pdf 2. Daniela Freund de Klumbi, Wil Munster (2005) Developments in the hotel industry: design meets historic properties. Available at: http://fama2.us.es:8080/turismo/turismonet1/economia%20del%20turismo/hosteleria/development%20in%20the%20hotel%20industry.pdf

3. Daviv. A. Keeps (2006) Historic Boutique Hotels. Available at: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-next-boutique-hotel-history-lesson 4. Gayot guide. Top 10 Boutique Hotels worldwide. Available at: http://www.gayot.com/hotels/bestof/bestboutiquehotels_intheworld.html 5. Lucienne Anhar (2001) The definition of boutique hotels. Available at: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4010409.search?query=lucienne+anhar+boutique+hotel 6. Mandy Aggett (2007) International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. Vol.19, No.2 169 – 177. What has influenced growth in the UK‘s boutique hotel sector? 7. Mark van Hartesvelt ( 2006) Lodging Hospitality, 62(14). Building a better boutique hotel. Available at: http://lhonline.com/mag/building_better_boutique/ 8. McIntosh A.J. And Siggs A. (2005) Journal of travel research, Vol. 44. An exploration of the experiental nature of boutique accommodation. Prieiga per internetą : http://jtr.sagepub.com