white paper ELEVEN Immutable Laws of Boutique Hotels
T
he Boutique Hotel category has become an unfortunate victim of its own success. Mass marketing and misunderstanding has led to a watering down of the idea and the delivery of cookie-cutter “boutique-
experiences”. The confusion among owners and operators between great small hotels and boutique hotels is part of the problem…but understanding the difference is the key to improved success (whether you are a real boutique hotel or a great small hotel). The following eleven immutable rules are excerpts from the original White Paper available at https://issuu.com/lbernste/ docs/ten_immutable_laws_of_boutique_hote 1. Bathrooms— must have windows or openings (hole in the wall) into the bedroom so guests can share their most intimate moments with whomever else is in the room. Towels must be placed no less than four strides away from shower (no baths allowed, except in the bedroom)
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2.Staff with attitude— obviously it is important to hire staff not based on their technical skills or hospitality aptitude, but rather on how they look and their exaggerated
sense of self 3.Super trendy music— played, generally, too loud. And too late (see Law #11) 4. Post millennial value— room rates are based on what the traffic will bear, and generally absurd 5. Menu— a room service menu consisting of items that nobody would actually eat in their rooms, which simplifies the delivery of 24 hour room service. Bottle service at hugely inflated prices is mandatory
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6. Design— a "great big chair" -- too large for the space -must occupy a place of honour in the room, but it must not be possible to watch television while sitting in the chair. No desk. Elevators and hallway must always be too dark and too loud.
9. Uniforms— Boutique hotels must clothe their associates in identical black outfits.
10. FF&E— furniture and fixtures in boutique hotels (especially branded) are built to last for about a week and look tired and outdated after about ten days. Function fol7.Controls— TV remote as far lows form at a great distance. from the bed as possible. Ditto This is called “design forward”, phone. and is intended to ensure the experience is memorable, 8.Good guests and bad guests— great boutique hotels though perhaps not in a “hotel sort of way”. clearly discriminate between good guests and bad guests: 11. Innovative use of swimtravelers who book on OTAs ming pools— Nothing signals are always bad guests and get Boutique as clearly and loudly bad rooms and an extra dose (especially loudly) as a DJ setof attitude. Good guests are up in the middle of the swimmerely ignored. ming pool.
The original white paper tracing the trajectory of the Boutique Hotel concept can be found at https://issuu.com/lbernste/docs/ ten_immutable_laws_of_boutique_hote
Protean Hospitality is a boutique brand strategy advisory firm focused on helping our hospitality clients drive growth. We combine our business/category expertise with tenacity, balancing rigor and creativity, to uncover new opportunities for hotels, resorts and hospitality brands.
For further information on this and other Protean Hospitality studies contact: Laurence Bernstein, Managing Partner, 416 919 5360; Bernstein@proteanstrategies.com www.proteanhospitality.com Page 2