Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Boutique hotels redefining service and luxury

‘Boutique Hotels’- A concept home to North America has already gripped the imagination of the rich and the famous. These generally theme-based hotels have everything to offer for a mind and soul on the lookout for some serious leisure and pleasure. Though the boutique hotels already have a lot to offer from lavish suites, penthouses, swimming pools, spas, sport arenas, bars (all catering to the unique tastes of the customer– you name it and you shall find it!), nevertheless, the industry is on the hunt for better and mind-blowing ideas to attract the ever-demanding customer. To satiate this hunger for luxury and thrills, many boutique hotels have come up with novel and whacky themes for the same. From themes as common as romance and Hollywood to as bizarre as toilets and jails are being dealt with!

Alongwith the normal facilities of internet, cordless phones, grand bathrooms, saunas, many hotels have started offering services like free baby-sitting, personal opera performances, shops selling antique artifacts, special arrangements for the physically challenged, currency exchange services, tourist guides etc. Also for corporates the facilities range from meeting and conference rooms to video-conferencing and all the required computer facilities. Also in a bid to attract more people, discounts are being given occasionally.

The most important factor affecting the sales of a designer hotel is its location. Hence owners have started choosing exotic locales like lush green stretches of land, hot tourist spots, cascades, brooks, mountain-tops, beaches, forests and the likes. They are basically concentrating more on isolated locations, as guests usually see these hotels as getaways from the maddening city crowds and the traffic. Also, considering that these hotels are very popular with the elite like Hollywood stars and political biggies, privacy is of prime importance. But at the same time, some hotels have done otherwise and concentrated on areas in the city; as people who wish to spend small amounts of time on weekends and thus not travel too far, prefer these, even if it means spending a little extra due to the high rates in and around the cities.

Boutique hotels have sprung up in all places around the world at a surprising pace. But they need some careful marketing, promotional and managerial skills and needless to say, creativity of high standards to captivate the guests’ imagination. Some of the ventures in this area have fallen flat due to unnecessary experimentation and ideas that did not go down well with the customers; thus realizing that, it is a must to first carefully study the likes and dislikes of the customers, before jumping to conclusions about their likely tastes. For it is the guests who decide the fate of the hotels. At the same time, these hotels have seen the need to target the appropriate customers at the appropriate season of the year to garner maximum profits. A good business in one season can relatively reduce the burden on the hotel for the rest of the year. An appropriate and intelligently chosen target customer group can also multiply gains by manifold as the guests are made to feel special by giving them just what they ask for. As such, this spells good news for the layman, as, if profits are accumulated by the hotels early during the year, it means better and cheaper rates for the common man at the other times of the year and this also ensures that the hotels stay full and in business at all times.

Besides the already present amenities and luxuries offered by this industry, there is still a lot of scope and room for new ideas and innovations. Special charter planes for guests who can afford them, activities where guests can try their hand at developing skills in pottery, painting, music and dance, themes which are out of the box, can add to the adventure and excitement that this industry caters to, in addition to the usual services targeting comfort and enjoyment. There are infinite possibilities and it is just a matter of time before the experts open up their genius fantasies to the world. Till then, the common man and the elite alike can soak in as much as possible of this awesome way to have fun a la the royals!

For further information about boutique hotel in Reykjavik the capital of Iceland visit the website www.101hotel.is.

About the author:
Dagur Jonsson is the CEO of Libius Inc a company which provides an internet appropriation service to companies both large and small. Take a look at the author’s blog site at http://libius.blogspot.com/.

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