Development Quarterly - Issue 3 IHG Europe's Development, Design & Openings magazine

BRANDS
Hotel Indigo ® York, designed by matthews mee
Size? It’s what you do with it that counts
The concept of branded boutique might seem like an oxymoron.
There is a romanticism in the independent and the unique and an
understandable fear of a cloned and uniform experience should
a boutique become a chain. From a developer’s point of view,
there is a perceived risk of restrictive brand standards throttling
any creativity from their hotel. And so with boutique hotels come
more flexible design and tailored concepts. Personalised guest
experience is far more important to the segment than negotiating
a few square millimetres. This variety all adds to the uniqueness
of the hotel. It all works to maintain the authenticity of the genre.
Boutique hotels pride themselves on being not merely a hotel
product. They look to add value to not only the building but the
neighbourhood it sits in. Hotel Indigo has built this element into
the core of its brand. Dina Soliman elaborates, “Just as no two
neighbourhoods are alike, no two Hotel Indigo properties are alike.
Each hotel’s neighbourhood story is woven throughout the guest
experience, from the local cuisine, to the art, photography and
architecture incorporated into the hotel’s design. The boutique space
is about creating distinctive experiences and lasting memories and
it’s important that isn’t lost by going with branded boutique.”
Branded boutique is an evolving market that offers a compelling
investment proposition. At the heart of the segment is the idea
that with the backing of a global hotel company like IHG, a hotel
combines the design cache of boutique with the operational
credibility of a large hotel chain. Nobody wants to sacrifice the
unique appeal of the sector and by understanding and catering for
a new breed of guest and identifying the make-up of the segment,
branded boutique ensures that nothing is lost and, as the figures
show, everything is gained.
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