Big Apple Boom Boosts Trend Toward Boutique Hotels

<B> Big Apple Boom Boosts Trend Toward Boutique Hotels</B>

By Frank Rosci

They are small and personal, fashionable and upscale; highly service-oriented, with a clear emphasis on comfort and style. A number have meeting space and count among their guests small business groups and corporate VIPs, and no two are exactly alike. They are boutique hotels and they are sweeping New York.

"Many people in the hotel industry trace the birth of boutique hotels in New York City to Steve Rubell, who is credited with coining the term in the 1980s. He was a former partner of Ian Schrager, owner of The Morgans, a 154-room hotel on Madison Avenue, and several other well-known boutique hotels in the city," said Nell Barrett, senior vice president of communications for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau. "With these kinds of hotels opening up all over the city now, the trend continues because they are a product of their popularity."

The NYCVB has seen a sharp recent rise in the number of boutique hotel bookings. With its reputation for innovation and being on the cutting edge of change, and its sense of style, the city was ripe for the rebirth and rapid rise of boutique properties.

"They are very popular and successful in the ways they satisfy guests' preferences for quality and service," Barrett said. "Boutique hotels connote a small, stylish property, a home away from home that is not cookie-cutter; and also one that is hip and independent, not part of a major chain. These hotels always seem to reference style and point of view especially, and not size, though most are small--anywhere from about 75 to 200 rooms or so."

Veteran hotelier Carlos Lopes, a managing director with L.K. Eric Prevette of Unique Hotels & Resorts, Los Angeles and New York, said travelers are finding boutique hotels offer all the conveniences of the monster hotel chains, but with a distinctive panache and personality. "All across the country, in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, these hotels are enjoying a renaissance because people once again want a more personal, high quality and very stylish kind of hotel-stay experience," Lopes said. What is happening with boutique hotels is analogous to the way shoppers are flocking to small, high-quality stores and shops.

In addition, the national trend toward retro-chic leisure, seen in the move back to cigars, martinis and big-band music, has provided boutique hotels with new clients and sparked renewed interest, Lopes said.

Unique Hotels acquired five boutique properties in New York about a year ago. "We were attracted to these properties because of their style, character, loyal clientele and excellent reputation," Lopes said, "and saw tremendous potential through improved management, a focus on service and property upgrades."

Occupancies at the five hotels are running at 80 percent, repeat business and referrals at about 50 percent, and marketing costs at a low 3 to 3.5 percent.

The Unique Hotels roster, all of which feature authentic interior designs, includes: The Shoreham on West 55th Street, with rates ranging from $249 to $319; The Mansfield on West 44th Street, with starting rates of $229 for a standard room and $269 for a suite; The Roger Williams on Madison Avenue and 31st Street, with rates starting at $269 per room, $375 per suite; Hotel Wales on Madison Avenue and 92nd Street, starting at $209 for rooms, $339 for suites; and The Franklin on East 87th Street, with room rates beginning at $199.

Perks that include daily complimentary European breakfast, a free shoeshine, 24-hour complimentary cappuccino and espresso bar, complimentary bottled spring water, no-fee faxes, the soothing sounds of ocean waves, rainforest or streams for restful sleep, as well as classical musical recitals and free admission to museums have guests rebooking when they checkout, Lopes said. And renovations totaling millions of dollars are underway at the hotels.

Unique Hotels also has plans to add hotels in New York, and to expand its cluster concept of three, four or five small hotels of 80 to 150 rooms each in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Lopes revealed.

Guest profiles at Unique's New York boutique hotels include a strong corporate base, as well as people from the creative industries--fashion, entertainment and publishing--and about 35 percent from the leisure market, Lopes said.

Boutique hotels are not merely becoming popular in New York City proper, but in the suburbs as well. The Roslyn Claremont, with 76 European-style rooms and suites in the village of Roslyn on Long Island, is 30 minutes from Manhattan, said Barbara Shapiro, director of sales and marketing.

Guests of the Roslyn property will find a health club, accommodations with a two-line dedicated telephone with dataport capability, in-room voice mail and marble bath. There also is meeting space for up to 300 attendees in the ballroom, 125 in the Claremont Room and 35 in the conference suite. Room rates start at $189 for a single, $209 for a double and $295 for a junior suite.

To understand the resurgence and expansion of boutique hotels across New York a look at the city's real estate market is a necessary first step, Barrett said. "With a tight real estate market in New York, and the cost of new construction of hotels prohibitively expensive, developers of boutique hotels have looked to converting existing buildings," she noted. "This approach is much faster and a great deal less expensive, and provides a better return on investment for them."

Typically, boutique hotels are not centered in one area of the city. Rather they are scattered across New York and may be found downtown, on the Upper West Side and the Upper East Side, and in SoHo, Chelsea, Murray Hill and elsewhere. And the Internet seems to be proving a fertile advertising medium for them, Barrett added. "Since most of these hotels don't have the reach of a Marriott or Hilton, advertising online provides them with an efficient, effective way to target a very specific, motivated audience.