A wonderful world: The design and boutique hotels phenomenon

The HIPPEST hotel of the moment, The Standard in New York

Recently I have been doing some research on accommodations for my upcoming trips and I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of design or boutique hotels that sprung up on my computer screen! Not so long ago, we were all excited by the term 'boutique or design hotel', but now it seems that any hotel with less than 100 rooms and has some kind of 'designer look or feel' to it can claim to be a 'boutique or design hotel'. It doesn't matter whether it is in Beijing, Milan or Warsaw, we are seeing hotels with very similar 'cool' and 'stylish' decorations, and they are boring me to death!!!!

I am not saying that all design or boutique hotels are boring, but I think the term has been misused/ overused by many 2-3 star hotels or B & Bs trying to upgrade themselves and large hotel chains trying to make profits from the trend. I have always preferred to stay in boutique (but not necessarily 'design') hotels than Marriotts/ Conrads, but I have also been let down by many esp. when they are more concerned with the style and look over fundamental issues like service and quality, which I think are much more important.

I remember staying in the Ian Schrager and Philppe Starck's Paramount Hotel New York back in 1997, one of the most talked about design hotel at the time but it turned out to be a huge disappointment! I thought all the public areas were super cool, i.e. the lobby and lighting and sound effects in the elevator/ lifts, but then we walked into our room and it was another story! Our room (and bathroom) were tiny with hardly any storage space, and there was no view (actually there was a view of the cemented wall opposite). We also had a noisy air conditioning unit and we noticed white paint chipping off here and there... We paid over $200 to 'look' cool but in reality, we felt a bit ripped off! I think this experience had put me off Schrager and Starck's hotels forever and I have never stayed at any of their hotels since.

The boutique/ design hotel concept originally started in the US around the mid 80s and now has spread throughout the world. When the trend started, its aim was to create independent hotels similar to the European B & Bs, distinguishing themselves from the large homegeneous hotel chains. However, these days, we are seeing large hotel groups such as Starwood, Kimpton and even Hilton launching their own boutique hotel brands. Besides the hotels, many related businesses have bloomed as well such as Mr and Mrs Smith, Design hotels and the hip hotels book series, it seems like the term has become a money-spinner or part of their marketing strategies.

I love small intimate hotels or B & Bs, especially the ones full of characters and charm, they are so much cosier than the cold or hip design-driven hotels. And when I look at the photos of the hotels I have stayed in the past, so many of them look remarkably similar! It seems like the worldwide hotel scene is reverting back to square one again, instead of creating more individual and charming hotels, we are now seeing more homogeneous 'design' hotels (with many of them are still owned by the large hotel chains) around the world. Isn't this ironic?! I sincerely hope that unlike the coffee shop industry, there will be room for independent hotels and B & Bs to survive and not be dominated by only a few large hotel chains.