white paper Ten Immutable Laws of Boutique Hotels… And Why They’re Nonsense
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). Ever since Ian Schrager invented the category, the idea of Boutique hotels has held a special place in the imaginations of hoteliers. Of course, what Schrager had in mind and where the category went are two different things. In this article I will clarify what the category is, or should be, and what it is not.
416.967.3337 www.proteanstrategies.com © 2013
The big surprise in North America was the idea that you could have a really great small hotel. By the mideighties the idea of luxury hotel was, for the major component of the market, inextricably linked to size. Great big hotels could be grand. Small hotels could be Holiday Inns or motels. While there was some logic to this (for one thing, the hotel business model dictated that to pay off hotels had to be pretty huge), and for the most part "Grand Hotels" (an official category in many European coun-
tries) were relatively large, it had a stifling effect on the industry. The focus was on large hotels, but there was a stirring of hotels-within-hotels as a way of providing upscale, personal attention (such as the Waldorf Towers). Schrager's model worked, largely because his capital costs were minimized by converting older properties and keeping guest rooms small and focusing on public spaces. His concept worked and deserved the name "boutique" because in every respect that's what these places were: small, fashionable and focused on serving a specialised clientele (that, for this product, happened to be abundant in New York City and happened to be more sophisticated in many respects than other, more mass, travelers). Two other pioneers deserve mention: Bill Kimpton who might even have
“What made these boutique hotels truly boutique hotels, is the
understanding of the specific market segment they were catering to, and the ability to convert this understanding into relevant and memorable experiences.”
been ahead of Schrager, understood the idea of catering to a specific clientele -- not for everybody, his hotels and their gestalt appealed to a very specific type of traveller, whose needs he understood extremely well. Similarly, Chip Conley built Joie de Vivre Hotels into a major boutique chain by converting run-down buildings into hotels specifically designed for a market he understood (rock bands, music industry people, etc.) This understanding led almost inevitably to including innovative life-style differentiators into the properties to keep them top of mind among the clientele. What these guys have in common, and what makes their boutique hotels truly boutique hotels, is the understanding of the specific market segment they were catering to, and the ability to convert this understanding into relevant and memorable experiences. Unfortunately for the traveling public, the idea caught on a bit too enthusiastically, and "boutique hotel” became a by-word for a massmarketed, lifestyle hotel trend. We say unfortunately because the marketers who glommed onto the idea kind of missed the point. Over the next 15 years the concept of boutique hotels became sadly predictable. In fact, we have identified ten attributes of so called boutique hotels (most of which were present in one form or another in the original boutique hotels -- which is where the copiers copied them from -- but all of which originally served very clear physical or emotional purposes directed at very specific psychographic needs of very specific customers, or were dictated by very specific limitations in the physical structures). These are the ten immutable laws of post millennial boutique hotels. Elevators—where it is too dark to see the floor numbers, followed by hallways too dark to see the door numbers (makes going to the room arbitrary, exciting and always sur-
prising) Bathrooms— with 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 (generally not their spouse); showers (bath tubs are optional) that spray water on the toilet paper rolls, and are located at least 8 paces from the towel rack -known as the 8-pace rule this is particularly important as it is a clear indicator of the need to make the guest suffer a little bit. 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 (this can -- in fact must -- be reinforced almost daily by telling each and every staff member how great they must be because they -- and not the thousands of other people breaking down the doors to work there -were selected for this establishment). It's important that the staff -- all of them -- believe they are superior to the guests in every respect (otherwise guests may be tempted to take advantage by asking for additional services such as late checkout, or complaining about the wet bathroom floors or the lack of toilet paper) Super trendy music— played, generally, too loud. Schrager catered to a specific clientele that was looking for a hotel that felt like a club (after all, that's what Schrager knew about), and it worked, so it is important that all boutique hotels pretend that their lobby is Studio 54, regardless of the fact that for most people (especially people over the age of 30) this is simply annoying Post millennial value - room rates are based on what the traffic will bear, and generally Menu - a room service menu consisting of items that nobody would actually eat in their rooms, which enables the promise of 24 hour room service Page 2
“...the sad truth that the furniture and
fixtures in branded lifestyle hotels are built to last for about a week and look tired and outdated after about ten days, has brought disrepute on the category.�
Room design - a "great big chair" -too large for the space -- must occupy a place of honour, but it must not be possible to watch television while sitting in the chair. If the hotel must provide a desk, it is important to ensure that the desk chair cannot be used without moving the "great big chair", and then the desk chair must be too low for the desk. It’s useful to note that Schrager's point about room design was based on the fact that the cost of hotel space in Manhattan was such that he could not provide anything but a very small room, which was okay because the people he was catering to did not want to spend time in their rooms anyway. Controls - Given that it must not be possible to watch TV from the "Great Big Chair" it is important to ensure that housekeeping religiously place the TV remote in a black lacquer tray on a table next to the GBC. The telephone must be on the desk, not accessible from the bed without climbing over the GBC; and in case guests want to use the alarm clock instead of the random wakeup call from the front desk ("it's not a computerised, recorded wake-up call, it's a real person calling, so how can you expect it to be at a specific time?"), the digital clock should be so complicated that it cannot be set without changing the actual time. Some advanced boutique hotels include the a/ c settings in the alarm clock mechanism, so I is entirely possible to change the room temperature to 80 degrees instead of setting the clock for 8am. Good guests and bad guests great boutique hotels clearly discriminate between good guests and bad guests: travelers who book on OTAs are always bad guests and get bad rooms and an extra dose of attitude on check in. Guests who expect the door person (or person standing in or around the door) to either open the door or (God forbid) help with luggage, are always given the bad guest treatment.
Uniforms - fundamentally, uniforms are counter to the free spirit that underlies the essence of boutique hotels boutique hotels, so all boutique hotels must clothe their associates in identical black outfits, based on the outdated belief that trendy people (the kind of people who stay in our hotel) wear black. Or something. While possibly slightly facetious, these observations unfortunately hold true of too many mass marketed boutique or lifestyle hotel concepts. This and the sad truth that the furniture and fixtures in branded lifestyle hotels are built to last for about a week and look tired and outdated after about ten days, has brought disrepute on the category. Which is unfortunate. European hotel companies have mastered the art of building luxurious smaller hotels without the constraints of the boutique hotel rules and regulations. A recent trip to Spain proved the point. Two chain properties in Madrid (the ME and the Vincci Soho) both delivered outstanding experiences, and neither would qualify for their boutique hotel creds based on the above. They both referred to themselves as boutique hotels, but they both really were great hotels that understood who their guests would be and how to build experiences that would resonate with those people. And, importantly, they manage to design the entire experience in such a way that even though it is directed at a specific lifestyle, it is not alienating or annoying to anybody else. This is the essential difference between a great small hotel and a true boutique hotel -- a great small hotel (which are abundant in Europe) is designed to deliver wonderful experiences across a broad range of travelers; boutique hotels -- or at least true boutique hotels -- are designed to deliver specialised experiences to a specialised segment of travelers. The third hotel worth mentioning in the great small hotel context is the Hospes hotel Palacio del Page 3
Bailio in Cordoba. This small hotel, with little fanfare or fuss, would give most Aman resorts a run for their money.
“...modern mores dictates that design is
front and centre, experience is personal and memorable and everybody who works for or
For many owners and operators of boutique hotels in North America (and possibly elsewhere) the time has come to make a serious choice: be a boutique hotel or be a great small hotel. There is a difference, as we have seen, and while both have their place, no one property can be both. The Europeans have clarified this, and North American owners of independent hotels and small chains would be well advised to choose one or the other for their brands. As a primer, the difference is stark: boutique hotels, as the name suggests are small hotels, fashionable, designed for a very specific niche market. As such they are expected to offer a range of highly relevant, focused, unexpected experiences, and
have tremendous opportunities to connect with geographically and psychographically local communities. Kimpton are masters of this, but it is only because they so clearly understand who they are catering to that they can be so brilliant at community engagement. Great small hotels are focused more generally n what makes a great hotel experience. They cannot get away with the cheap furniture and tired looking wallpaper, and the focus must be on the many aspects of a hotel stay that turn a traveller’s crank. But in both cases, modern mores dictates that design is front and centre, experience is personal and memorable and everybody who works for or around the property must be distressingly obsessed with delivering great service experiences.
around the property must be distressingly obsessed with delivering great service experiences.�
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, 416 967-3337 x 101; Bernstein@proteanstrategies.com Www.proteanhospitality.com Page 4