Boutique Hotels Adds 12 Far-Flung Properties

MIAMI BEACH-A dozen hotels and lodges in far-flung international destinations join Boutique Hotels & Resorts International, the locally based hotel organization that carries the Boutique Hotel trademark. The additions include five properties in South Africa, two each in Cambodia and Thailand and one each in Azerbaijan, Panama and St. Tropez.

The new locations are international business capitals and summer vacation destinations, according to Martin Buehler, Boutiques CEO. They take the company’s portfolio of member properties to 62 in 20 countries. A Boutique spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the company’s properties range from hotels with as few as 10 rooms to “a few in the 190-room range. The average number of rooms in properties within the total portfolio is 60.”

The South Africa properties are: Ka Ingo, Riviera on Vaal, Banhoek Vineyard, Zorgvliet Suites and Le Pommier. The other additions are: Le Ferme d’Augustine in St. Tropez; Hotel Bocas Del Toro in Panama; Boutique Palace Hotel in Baku, Azerbaijan; Angkor Howard Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia; Tai Ming Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Boutique Hotel Sathorn in Bangkok, Thailand, and Bel Air Panwan in Phuket, Thailand. “The new properties add a total of 605 rooms, taking the portfolio’s total to 4,100,” the spokesman says.

According to Buehler, his company was founded to exercise “a collective effort” to bring authentic boutique hotels to the forefront for travelers.” It also allows member boutique hotels “to compete against the overwhelming industry consolidation without losing the individual flair of their property.” He also says there is a “boutique movement” that has caused national chains to invest heavily in the boutique segment of the market, creating a “distortion and dilution” of the boutique experience.

Among Boutique’s Florida properties are the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach and the Century Hotel here. Other US properties include Nine Zero in Boston, Royal Palm Resort in Phoenix and Villa Graziadio Executive Center in Malibu, CA.