Boutique Hotels: Are They Safer Than Large Chain Hotels?
Travelers constantly think about security: are they going to be safe in the hotel they have chosen? Most of the time the answer is yes. In times of turmoil, the answer is fuzzier. Are you going to be safer in a big hotel, in the city center, in the midst of all the tourist activity? Or are you going to be safer in a boutique hotel, a smaller, more personal hotel where the staff knows your name, that is off the beaten path and harder to find?
Boutique hotels are not just a mere trend, and the word has become now more familiar to the public. For those who are not sure of what a boutique hotel is, here is a short definition: Just like a “boutique” in French means a small upscale shop to differentiate it from a large department store, in the same way a boutique hotel distinguishes itself from a large chain-owned hotel by being a unique, medium to small, luxury hotel.
So why would a boutique hotel be safer than a big one?
As the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration has shown, deluxe and upscale hotels ranked the highest for safety and security, as did those that have been newly opened or refurbished (safety-council dot org). Boutique hotels are usually a deluxe venue and most of them have been renovated very recently.
The website safetraveler dot com claims that “Due to the fairly uncontrolled access to hotels, would-be criminals can come and go relatively unnoticed”. This is might be true for bigger hotels with a constant flow of guests and visitors. Great attention is however paid to personalized service in a boutique hotel. Owing to a smaller number of guestrooms, it is easier for a boutique hotel to offer each guest a personalized approach to service. At the same time, the staff of a smaller hotel is more likely to recognize the guests and can watch out for possible intruders and suspicious behaviors.
Even if safetraveler dot com advises staying at larger hotels because “they tend to have more elaborate security systems in place,” David Maranzana, president of Epoque Hotels, recommends small boutique hotels . “If terrorism against Western targets has been identified as a threat in the site you will be visiting,” claims Maranzana, “steer clear from popular tourist spots because those are easy targets; there are often many doors and there’s always a steady flow of people coming and going. Not to mention the amount of luggage left unattended.” As boutique hotels are less crowded and more intimate, this may actually reduce the risks of being targeted.
Will staying in a boutique hotel save a life? No. Yet it is most likely safer than staying in a larger hotel in a major tourist destination. It certainly make the traveler’s vacation more interesting, offering a more intimate and hidden outlook on a city – and with less homogenization within the hotel. It’s particularly nice in larger cities that guests have been to beforehand, manifesting a glimpse of the city’s true life. With personalized, caring customer service, boutique hotels might just be the answer to staying safely and happily wherever in the world.