Good travel is all about the experience. After the actual destination to be visited, probably the most important choice to ensure a quality travel experience is where you stay. Boutique hotels are popping up all over the world and attracting a very specific clientele of savvy travelers. Staying at one on your next voyage could add an entirely new dimension to your trip.

To qualify as a boutique hotel, the establishment must meet a few criteria. No organization is formally handing out the title, but the frauds are easily found out. A boutique operates as its own distinct entity with its own distinct personality. So any hotel that can\’t meet all the criteria listed here won\’t be considered boutique by the travelers who prefer that sort of lodging.

As the name \’boutique\’ hints, these hotels are not terribly large. The exact number of rooms that makes an establishment too large to be boutique can be argued. Certainly a place with over one hundred rooms will have too many rooms. Beyond that firm dividing line, the number of rooms can\’t be a determining a factor. A place with 10 rooms, but none of the other boutique qualities will still not make the grade.

A distinguishing characteristic of these places are that they will usually have some unifying theme or decor. For example, there are boutique hotels that design each room around a major piece of artwork created by a local artist. Other types of themes can be around an era, a famous personage of old, or even a food.

The boutique establishment also pride themselves on the quality of their service. Since they tend to be smaller, they work hard to have their staff develop name relationships with their guests. The staff is also carefully selected to be the sort of person who would stay at that hotel so they connect on a personal level with guests as well.

The combination of unique decor and high quality staff create a particularly inviting atmosphere. This atmosphere does more than just invite the guests to sleep there. They will often have chic bars or lounges that make them great places to meet people. The environment should be hip enough that even locals come to hang out at the hotel bar.

The greatest misconception about boutique lodgings is that they can\’t be owned by the larger hotel chains. Some purists may refuse to stay at a boutique if it\’s owned by a chain, but others judge the quality of that specific place on its own merit. The key is that you shouldn\’t be able to tell it\’s owned by a chain when you\’re staying at it. The only way you should know is by doing research.

The best boutique hotels fit smoothly into their city, leveraging the best and most interesting local flavor. They are normally well located, in the trendiest or more centralized neighborhoods. In this way, the establishment isn\’t just a convenient place to stay, but part of the excitement of traveling in the first place.

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