Get the best of CF straight to your inbox.

Subscribe, sit back, and let your mind travel.

Arts + Lifestyle

Big Brands Go Boutique!

A growing number of world-renowned chains are introducing their own branches of boutique sister hotels to match the wildly popular catalogue of design-focussed independents.

These chic new hotels are an answer to the need for more and more affordable luxury. The change in traveller is the drive for this initiative. The biggest chains had always catered largely for the jetlagged and crisply ironed business-folk who needed somewhere to rest their heads and pace around before that all-important corporate meeting. Now however, the household names are realising that demand for exciting and unusual boutique boltholes is rising dramatically, as the numbers of bijou vacationers and style-conscious escapists come to equal the business travellers.

Rest assured, however, that the known marques are by no means dying off, but rather they are realising the necessity to stay ‘on trend’. After all, millennials are the fastest-growing age group of traveller, and this group has a proven taste for boutique options. The likes of the Marriott, with its boutique arm the London Edition, the Hilton’s Curio and the Radisson Red provide visitors with modern, characterful, cool accommodation that maintain the chains’ distinguished high standards, but act as an alternative choice to their well established brands. Within these chains, you have the likes of the Intercontinental Geneva in Switzerland who is making an effort to combine local efforts with the ambassadors and heads of State that frequent the Hotel. Their Woods’ Restaurant Chef, Guillaume Bourdillon has as a very close partnership with Budé Farm, a local grower of organic vegetables and fruits. Bourdillon walks the 100m path up from the hotel to the farm 3 times a week to purchase freshly grown, seasonal vegetables, which guests will find on the daily artisanal lunch.

Words like ‘artisan’ and ‘craft’ are bandied around all too often these days, but for good reason. This is what the style-conscious look for: individual experiences, each one different to the next. It’s apparent that this need to cater for a new wave of stylish travellers stems from celebrity culture and glossy magazines. People want to emulate the elegant lifestyles that are plastered all over news and social media networks, whether it is showcased by actors, models, city professionals, bloggers and influencers or anyone in between, really.

Access to luxury is big business now, and its not just the glittering elite who get a slice of the pie anymore. Everyone, it seems, is hunting out a more colourful hotel experience, and with innovative newcomers popping up all over the place, its imperative that the hallmark brands keep up. To add to this, innovations within the food and drink industry are contributing to this trend. Several well-known restaurants and bars are throwing their hats into this ultra-competitive arena. Nobu for example, famous for its show stopping sushi and even more famous clientele, opened its first foray into the hotel industry last year, giving the foodie world’s tongues something fresh and different to wag about.

Gone are the days of dreary conference suites and soulless bedroom boxes, as the era of fashion-forward style palaces is ushered in.

Chains becoming boutique

The London Edition, Fitzrovia: Part of the Marriott empire and third property in the Edition brand, is the result of a partnership with celebrity hotelier Ian Schrager, the man credited with leading the way for modern boutique hotels.

The word ‘boutique’ might be synonymous with ‘small’, but not here: it’s all about the interior design at the Edition. A canopy of glimmering marquee lights welcome you through the doorway into the palatial foyer with a huge vaulted ceiling and awe-inspiring Edwardian plasterwork resembling intricate wedding cake frosting. Guests and non-guests alike can saunter around the constantly frenetic lobby and bar as well as two other restaurants and the fabled Punch Room. This principle of community gives The Edition an edge over the long-standing hotels that it neighbours, but the big brands are swiftly realising the benefits this sociable atmosphere can have.

Eateries giving it a shot

Nobu Hotel, Shoreditch: The success of this global brand of restaurants took 20 years to build, and its ever-increasing popularity inspired a collection of hotels to complement. London’s Nobu Hotel is the fifth in the set, following Vegas, Miami, Malibu and Manila, to complete a haven of east-meets-west understated luxury in the capital’s coolest district. The richly industrial aesthetic is clearly very vogue right now, and snap-happy celebrities and trendsetters are rushing to be seen at Nobu Shoreditch. World-class dining within a world-class hotel is undoubtedly a recipe for success. Nobu’s sixth hotel venture in Ibiza has just opened too.

From boutique to chain

The Hoxton Hotel Group: Beginning its life in London’s edgy East End, The Hoxton hotel opened its industrial-chic doors in 2006 by Pret-a-Manger entrepreneur Sinclair Beecham. Simple but functional was the inspiration for the hotels design-focussed bedrooms, with exposed brick, contemporary artwork and cool monochrome bathrooms in every suite. Adding to Shoreditch’s burgeoning mecca for boutique places to stay, The Hoxton was one of the first of its kind to welcome non-hotel guests into its lobby and communal spaces, where they were able to work away from the office in a comfortable, beautiful space. Mostly attracting tech buffs and creative types with their MacBooks in tow, The Hoxton became a community hub for professionals to network and create. This innovation gained rapid popularity and The Hoxton enterprise quickly snowballed. It now has another sister site in central London’s Holborn area, and more in Paris and Amsterdam. Four more Hoxtons are in the planning and building stages across the pond in New York, LA, Chicago and Portland. Who knows where in the world the next endeavour will lead to…

The Hoxton, Paris

Posh partnerships

The Mandeville Hotel, London: With 142 rooms, it would be pushing it to call The Mandeville a “boutique” hotel. But more than many high-end hotels, it’s got an aesthetic all its own. Call it a design hotel if you may.This is one that has always been at the forefront of hotel upgrades and innovation. They are not afraid to steer away from the standard beige and grey, and to play with the idea of design with their Mona Lisa replicas with yellow and red lipstick and nails, to their stretched dachshund cushions adorning the comfy couches in the bar.

They were the first in London to create a Gentleman’s Afternoon Tea, a kitsch affair served on blue crockery and plating up manly dishes including steak sandwiches, potted shrimp, Yorkshire puddings and the like. Most recently, the Hotel collaborated with Maison Christain Lacroix, to recreate the entire Fifth Floor into the French Riviera.

Alexander Wang did it with The Algonquinin New York, Mary Katrantzou with Grand Bretagne, Athens, Stella McCartney collaborated with a Californian Health and Wellness Ranch, Karl Lagerfeld designed two suites for The Crillon in Paris, has a mega-resort planned for Macau, and recently The Carlton in Cannes.

The Mandeville used the Belles Rives fabrics collection from Maison Christian Lacroix which revisits scenes of the French Riviera. The chaotic Santo Sospir villa that belonged to French socialite Francine Weisweiller is reflected on the eclectic walls, as are elements of the classic film To Catch a Thief starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, through pick’n’mix jewellery patterns.

As soon as the lift opens on The Mandeville’s Fifth Floor, you are bombarded with candy-stripe corridors and rainbow-coloured cushions, and four suites to choose from: Midnight Blue (sultry navy surfaces and shiny bed linen), Jewel Box (a blue and white kaleidoscopic take on classic Lacroix designs), Classic Lacroix (a simple, romantic black and white affair), and the Jardin Exotique (a fresh and jungly take on Monaco’s botanical gardens).

Get a robot to do the job

And a big brand it is. Mandarin Oriental is ahead of its game, finding innovative ways to stand out from the crowd. Their Las Vegas hotel appointed Pepper®*, the humanoid robot, as hotel Technical Ambassador. The newest team member will primarily be based in the Sky Lobby located on the 23rd floor, greeting guests, and complementing hotel services through engaging and playful entertainment. More than a lobby fixture, Pepper is completely integrated into the hotel team, and acts as a colleague. Endearing and surprising, with large expressive eyes and lifelike movements and gestures, the four-foot (1.2-metre) tall Pepper can discern a guest’s gender, approximate age and mood. Interacting in natural and intuitive ways, Pepper provides personalized communication by detecting facial, body and voice cues. It can provide answers to property-specific questions, give directions, tell stories, dance and even pose for a selfie. Pepper adds a whole new layer of service. In a city dominated by the latest and greatest, Pepper is the newest attraction and enhancement in the Entertainment Capital of the World. Yay or nay to the robot interaction, or back to the boutique human option?

It’s an exciting time to explore the travel landscape, time to get booking!

You May Also Like

Any Questions or Tips to add?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share