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Boutique customers want the basics
From the WSJ today, Boutique Backlash:
There's a backlash brewing against boutique hotels. ... Once smitten with trendy furnishings and achingly cool bars - and unfazed by inferior amenities, tiny rooms and snooty hotel staff - boutique customers increasingly say they're just as interested in good service and a good room as they are in style.
And a funny bit about the phone in the hotel room at the W in Chicago:
Instead of typical buttons for the fitness center or the valet, it had "Sweat" and "Wheels."
"I couldn't figure it out for a couple of minutes," Mr. Bynum says. "I was like, 'I just want my car.'" Next time, he says, he just wants a Westin.
(Thanks, NH)
Good news is, the industry is responding. On a recent trip to London, I stayed at two relatively new, small hotels that had the comforts, amenities, and service of a Four Seasons at a price competitive with any of the generic chains. Guests will only take boutique abuse for so long, and I predict the accelerating emergence of this new tier of hotels: service, price, and experience.