Boutique hotels tips

This summer has seen a surge in the highest end of luxury across the world. Some of it is about revenge travel and increased global mobility: A lot of the Middle Eastern market parked closer to home in Covid and are now shipping their Bugattis to the streets of London and other haunts in Europe. The palaces of Paris, the best hotels in Europe, and five-stars in the U.S. did brisk business at eye-watering rates.

AirAsia has announced the launch of a new route from Ahmedabad to Kuala Lumpur. Set to take flight from May 1, the new connection will mark AirAsia’s eleventh route from India, and third new route in 2024 alone. This will also be the Malaysia-based carrier’s entry into the state of Gujarat, as it looks to rapidly grow its connectivity from Malaysia to India.

Sydell Group, the owner of NoMad Hotels, is weighing the possibility of selling the boutique brand, according to a report published in Bloomberg on Friday.

Standard International, the hotel company behind The Standard Hotels and The Peri Hotel — and a majority owner of Bunkhouse House Group — is taking on a lot these days to meet CEO Amber Asher‘s aggressive expansion plans.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, November 14. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

While luxury boutique hotels have always appealed to a certain set, Small Luxury Hotels of the World is trying to create more converts. In October, it launched a marketing campaign around a so-called “private collection” to amplify the message that “smaller is better.”

When guests walk into Jams Music Hotel in Munich, Germany, they encounter a floor-to-ceiling mural of Prince and a chance to pick out albums from the hotel’s vast collection of vinyl to play on the record player in their room.

Earlier this month, Roseate Hotels and Resorts said it is buying yet another luxury hotel in the United Kingdom — this time, a five-star boutique called The Dunstane Houses located in Edinburgh, Scotland. As with the three other UK properties Roseate has acquired, the brand will attempt to keep the decor and service practices localized.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is a boutique hotel brand created by Bill Kimpton in 1981 in San Francisco. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) bought it for $430 million in 2014 and has been scaling it up as a mid-priced lifestyle brand.

When planning a trip to Italy, most people put historic, charming cities like Venice, Florence, and Rome on the itinerary. But Oasy Dynamo, a new luxury, wilderness retreat nestled in the Pistoia mountains of upper Tuscany, is hoping travelers want a taste of nature, too.

Ace Group International, the operator of a buzzy brand of 11 open Ace lifestyle hotels, will be acquired by Sortis Holdings, a Portland, Oregon-based hospitality firm, the companies said on Tuesday.

The Ace Hotel Group, the boutique hotel chain considered to be a pioneer in the sector, announced Tuesday that it will be acquired by hospitality firm Sortis Holdings for $85 million, marking yet another chapter in the history of this small but influential player in hospitality.

When international travelers visit Portugal, some may look for a big chain you’d find in, say Phoenix. But AlmaLusa, a boutique hotel brand founded in 2016, is banking on travelers looking for something more authentic.

It’s a big month for Almanac Hotels. The luxury boutique hotel chain — which launched its first hotel in Barcelona in 2018 — has two back-to-back openings. Its second property soft launches in Vienna in late February, and its third hotel opens in Prague in early March.

Few stories are more romantic than Romeo and Juliet, and few places embody the tragic love story more than the courtyard with Juliet’s balcony.

Talent retention, digital marketing tactics, partnerships with local brands, and sustainability strategies were among the topics that independent hoteliers discussed the most at last week’s Independent Lodging Congress 2023 event in Austin, Texas. 

When guests drive up to Marina Riviera, a boutique hotel in Big Bear, California that opened in the autumn of 2022, they won’t see a big sign for Casetta, the parent company that founded the hotel portfolio in 2019. Nor will they see its Casetta floral logo splashed on every corner of the lobby (look closely on the bath products and robes, though, and you’ll find it).

Some hoteliers take a stand-back approach, outsourcing most of the concept creation and design. Then there’s Palisociety’s founder and CEO Avi Brosh — who’s involved in every last detail.

One of the more interesting U.S. innovators of boutique hotels had humble origins. Atit Jariwala is today the founder and CEO of Bridgeton, a New York real estate development group managing $1 billion in assets, including hotels. But Jariwala got his first taste of the hospitality industry living in an EconoLodge motel that his parents managed in Bridgeton, Missouri.

A boutique hotel opening in July in the historically Black neighborhood of Haughville, Indianapolis, aims to tap into a few trends percolating in hospitality broadly: helping guests feel a sense of place and reducing the carbon impact of hotel operations. Tiny Urban Escapes will strive to bring a small, green oasis into the middle of a bustling Indiana city with luxury touches.

The Postcard Hotel is a brand with momentum behind it. It was named Asia’s leading boutique hotel brand at the World Travel Awards in 2022. Even though the India-based brand only launched in 2018, it already has nine properties open, with another 23 under development.