When people go on vacation or business trip, they use brand name hotels like the Comfort Inn or the Holiday Inn. While these hotels are good for getting a decent night's sleep, they do not offer much more than that comfortable bed. Yet, there is an alternative if you're looking for something a little more than a bed. A boutique hotel.
Boutique hotels are designed to give their guests something more than a mainstream hotel can provide. What may this be? Personal attention. Boutique hotel owners and employees will go above and beyond to be sure their guests are happy with their room and their stay.
Most boutique hotels are begun through older homes that will either be torn down or turned into museums. For this reason, many of the rooms are not modernized. Owners will need to retrofit the rooms to give guests access to high speed Internet, phone lines, cable service and even private bathrooms especially if they are to compete with those big name hotel giants. Some hotels may even offer room service.
If you want to stay in a place that is unique, you'll need to do some searching using the Internet. You may not realize it but many of the antique homes that are fixed up in New Orleans are actually boutique hotels. There are several of them to choose from and many use the 19th century as their theme. These older homes in New Orleans can be used for something more than museums when accented right.
As stated already, boutique hotels have a theme they portray. Yet, how do owners come up with a theme that will catch a person's eye? One of the best ways is to utilize the cultural surrounding of the hotel. The Anasazi Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico uses its southwest region culture to accent its home. There are many items from the Native American culture hanging about in the hotel including handmade throw rugs and pottery too.
While many hotels use their surroundings to come up with a theme, some boutique hotels stick with a time period. One such place is New Orleans. However, there are other places including a hotel in San Francisco. Hotel Union Square has a Prohibition era theme in its rooms and halls. Each room and hallway has a black granite and cream travertine tile.
That isn't to say all boutiques base their theme on the local area. The Inn of Five Graces in Santa Fe bases it's theme on the southwest culture and mixes it with Asian culture. There are plenty of boutiques outside of the US, in cities as far away as Moscow and Singapore.
If you find a boutique hotel you are interested in staying in, you should realize that a short notice reservation is likely not going to work. Most boutique hotels have a limited amount of rooms. They average out around 25 to 50 rooms. There are some boutique hotels which have over 100 rooms and others that have only three or four rooms to stay in. These small number of rooms allow employees to get to know their guests. Be sure to put your reservation in as soon as you know when you will be leaving on your vacation/business trip.
So while the regular hotels offer a high standard of facilites and suites, boutique hotels are renowned for their high levels of hospitality. Couple this with some splendid design touches and amazing amenities, a boutique hotel will offer you a rich rewarding vacation experience.
While the commercial hotels are media branded and make you think about their particular image, sometimes a little research finds you staying somewhere you never even thought about. You should realize that you pay for what you get. A boutique hotel is not cheap but well worth the cash you spend. With all the amenities you get, there's no need to stay anywhere else.
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Find out some more info before you book a boutique hotel. You will find out a lot of information about various boutique hotels around the globe.
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