How to Open a Unique Shop

Boutique Hotel. Just the words have the imagination going. Even before I dog eared the pages of Herbert Ypma's first Hip Hotels book I was interested in the planet of boutique hotel properties. "How cool will it be to be the overall manager of a very good boutique hotel?" I often found asking myself as I flipped through the pages of his magnificent photos. Spending so much time to make a career out of the hotel industry, I was convinced that I recently needed to be a part of a shop hotel someday. That someday came true, when in 2004 I was invited to be the general manager of what was and is still certainly one of Palm Springs most hip boutique hotels. I left another huge opportunity just to be an integral part of this amazing world. The art, the design, the vibe. I had hardly ever really worked anywhere with a "vibe" ;.A year later and I knew, I knew what many in the hotel business do not...what it is really like to function as gm of a hip, cool boutique hotel. It's not for anyone and amazing for many. There's a little storm brewing in the boutique hotel world, one I don't think most associated with this industry are aware of. With increased and more boutique hotel operators entering the playground, more and more bad hiring decisions are being made. The best General Mangers will work at the wrong hotels. Such as for instance a square peg and a circular hole, some things just do not work. scarpe mou the culprit and what can be achieved? First allow me to first tell you that I employ a narrow view of what really is really a boutique hotel. I genuinely believe that the term "Boutique" when used to describe a resort is frequently misapplied. A boutique hotel isn't defined simply by a warm design, as much would argue. Boutique hotels, the term in vogue now, but what exactly it's, can it be the small size or is it the facilities or the place? Well it's a variety of all these factors and many more. The concept of boutique hotel first surfaced in America in 1984, with Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opening their Morgans Hotel in New York. It then slowly spread to other cities and countries. There is no accepted definition of the definition of, in simple and layman's language, these properties are, "non traditional, unconventional, small, trendy, chic, life style hotels with high degree of personalisation in service and guest interaction and offering a unique experience." Boutique hotels perform exactly the same functions as the standard hotels or offer exactly the same product to its residents, guests, customers and patrons yet they're quite distinctive from the regular hotels in lots of ways. These differentiations make them unique and they are able to extract equal if not higher, per room revenue. Location plays the main role for hotels success. Boutique hotels demand a metro city, down town place for maximising returns. Resorts boutique hotels also require prime location. This fact explains the concentration of boutique hotels in New York's Manhattan area or in central London area. A resort might be called as a specialist product if it's 3 to 150 rooms. However, some on the market believe how big the property shouldn't be over 100 rooms, but with the entry of large international chains in this segment, the size factor has been diluted largely. Now we see chains like the Hilton, Starwood, Kempinski, Four Seasons, Le Meridian, to call several who offer boutique products. That is along with the regional chains such as the Amanresorts, Oberoi, Dusit, and Banyan Tree and in India the Ista and Park group. The success of a store product depends largely on the caliber of experience it provides to the guests. This experience could be the resultant feel of your senses, i.e., everything you see, everything you hear, that which you taste and that which you feel. More explicitly, it must evoke the "Wow" factor from the initial point of exposure. This aspect of development of a shop property is perhaps the most difficult one. It entails making a mood, an environment and an ambiance, that'll add uniqueness to the experience. The designer, the executer and the operator need to work together to define every part of the product, ensuring that it increases the exclusivity of the property and enhances the experience. While working on the knowledge enhancement objective, the team can't loose sight of other essential components of the product. It must be ensured that the ultimate product is "chic" and "trendy" exuding a top life style. Decor plays an essential role in creating ambiance and enhances the evolution of design of product and service. The hotel must become the preferred happening invest the city and the place for the area and visiting celebrities, a place where people want "to be observed around" and "to be viewed with", with local media wanting to cover each celebrity visit. Visiting the hotel should be viewed as an advantage because it offers a chance to be seen in the neighborhood print media. Boutique hotels are very trendy with state of the art technology. City boutique hotels boost of high speed Wi-fi internet connectivity, dimmer switches in all areas including guest rooms, multi-plug sockets, LCD or Plasma flat screen TV with handy remote control, telephones with voice mail, message display and follow-me system and DVD players in rooms. The bathrooms are no less in furnishing, fittings and technology. Most bathrooms have bathtubs cum Jacuzzi as also rain shower, frost-free mirrors and multi-plug shaver socket adjustable to different voltages. While every one of these technological features and gadgetry is installed, it is also ensured that every thing is user friendly and doesn't offend the consumer, the guest. There's no end to imagination, the seed for innovation and evolution. Development of boutique product is directly influenced by creative and practical imagination or visualisation by its creators.