Hospitality Inndustry Experts At Your Service
As if we don't have enough confronting us with the still developing definition of New Normal..consider the following editorial excerpt from Lodging Hospitality magazine...
A Shift in the Boutique Business
By Ed Watkins
An announcement this week from boutique bigwig Andre Balazs may signal a subtle but significant change in that segment of the hotel industry. Balazs says he’s close to a deal to sell the ultra-cool Raleigh Hotel in South Beach so he can beef-up and expand The Standard, his group of lower-priced, boutique properties.
While the era of the high-end boutique may be fading, along with the rest of the luxury hotel market, it doesn't mean, as Balazs is betting, consumers don’t want style, vibe and comfort in their accommodations. In fact, a whole new sub-segment of the market has emerged in the past few years as a direct result of this consumer trend. Now nearly every brand company has a flag in the lifestyle hotel sector, and it’s one of the few segments where significant development is still happening.
Then, read on for some perspective from the Keynote speaker at an upcoming conference focused on the Boutique Hotel niche...
Keynote Speaker Cheryl Rowley Profile
A leading figure in boutique design since boutique design was born, Cheryl Rowley created the Monaco and Palomar brands for Kimpton – currently in 15 properties – and this year opened the exquisite Epic Hotel in Miami and Chicago's instant hit, the Wit. Known for bold choices, careful detail and a rich sense of place, her designs emphasize the individual, the specific, and the unique.
"For a long time, it was good to be predictable; historically, brands were built on predictability. The boutique industry began as a reaction to that sameness; today's boutiques – branded and independent - are built on surprise, delight and difference."
The InnConcierge perspective here:
Our InnKeeping industry 'used' to stand totally alone because of our total independence, our intimacy, the one of a kind character of our Inns...
Now enter the bigger brands and their experts aimed at 'morphing' and making more hazy these distinctive differences....
and just as I go out now to prepare for marathon # 61 and state # 47 ( after a frustrating performance over Labor Day weekend...)
it's time for me to tinker, to tweak, to adjust, to accept, to modify my routine - because "what got me (and you) here, will NOT get me (you) there...(wherever THERE is...)
by Jim Miller
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