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Going Small in a Big World

If you need a resource that will save a company’s image while providing the perfect meeting space and inclusive accommodations, try a boutique hotel. You may be thinking, “But they’re so small and…so small.” Perhaps many of them are, but these days the boutique hotels are trying hard for the planners’ business and loyalty, and is doing so by being accommodating and providing some of the best customer service in the industry.

Meal Planning

Many of these hotels distinguish themselves in food service. Instead of simply trying to cope with a planner’s needs, they do everything they can to make the planner look good to his client. They can provide a more intimate setting for meals, as well as more unique offerings in menu and beverage choices.

If you are going to have a group of selective eaters, such as vegans, a boutique hotel may be better able to handle this need. Many of them are accustomed to dealing more closely with planners in general, making food choices easier for the planner. For the small boutique hotel, flexibility is king.

Meeting Space

Many of these boutique hotels also have more intimate meeting spaces. In Houston, the Hotel ZaZa offers a room called the Kitchen of the Mind, which not only sports 800 square feet of space but also offers a kitchen stocked with equipment and surfaces.

The ZaZa also offers suites equipped for meetings, some of which have balconies and kitchens. A group could conceivably hold a meeting in one of these suites complete with a reception, dinner prepared by cooks they brought in, and cocktails.

Image

One of the major concerns for companies these days in the hard economic times is image. For that reason, many currently prefer the smaller boutique hotel. The public will see the company supporting smaller, more independent hotels as businesses, and not stuffing the already stuffed pockets of the Hiltons.

As a planner, you also have the ability to work out inclusive deals with boutiques that may be more difficult with the larger hotels. Any large company must have stricter policies and limits than smaller ones just to survive; this means that boutiques will be a good source for inclusive travel of any kind.

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