European Travel Magazine - Issue 2 - November 2013 Nov 2013 | Page 11

E UROP E AN T RAV E L M AGAZIN E

11

F ive G reat
R easons To S tay I n
A B outi q ue H otel
If you’ve never stayed in a boutique hotel
before, here are some reasons why you
should book one today.
Location
Boutique hotels are usually in
enviable locations. A townhouse
right in the middle of the city,
a chateau in rural France or a
stunning beach retreat in the
Maldives, boutique hotels exist to
provide you with the very best location for your holiday. City hotels
are in prestigious shopping areas,
next to great restaurants, within a
stone’s throw from the theater or
stumbling distance from the top
nightspots. They provide a retreat
in the middle of town where you
can wind down, rest your weary
feet and take advantage of the
staff’s outstanding local knowledge. Alternatively, chill out on a
private beach, where your bedroom doors fold open onto the
sand and where you can snorkel
without seeing another human
being. Or just take in the countryside from a castle on top of a hill.
Design
If you want to experience real
design, choose a boutique hotel.
More than a few art-deco ornaments or modern art in the foyer,
these hotels have design running through their core and it is

a pleasure to stay somewhere
that’s been designed and decorated with an eye for detail and
finish. From the accessories in the
bathroom to the china in the restaurant, everything is design-led,
without being design-conscious.
Size
By their nature, boutique hotels
are small. Even in large buildings,
these hotel owners reduce the
number of rooms available so that
they can increase the size of the
rooms and the public spaces and
provide better service. The size of
a hotel in this sector isn’t based
on how much floor space it has,
but how many rooms it offers,
because this affects the ambiance
and the service.
Service
Service is all-important in boutique hotels. Hotel staff are
trained to ensure that guests want
for nothing, and yet the service
is discreet, so guests don’t feel
hassled or intimidated. The lower
number of guests at each hotel
means that the service can be
impeccable, and it usually is.

Price
The term “boutique hotels”
may give the impression that
these hotels are all expensive,
but that’s not the case. In fact,
you may be surprised by how
affordable many of them are.
For the same price or very
slightly more than you might
pay for a very ordinary chain
hotel, you could be staying
somewhere with real atmosphere and real service. Whilst
some of the boutique hotels
are very exclusive and therefore very expensive, many of
them are perfectly affordable.

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