Boutique Clique

Everywhere the hotel aficionado turns, there’s a new hotel marketing itself as “boutique.” Sure, Canada’s best small, unique hotels are among the world’s finest, but traveller beware: there are pretenders out there eager to jump on the boutique bandwagon without providing the level of service the moniker implies.

If anyone knows how to decipher the genuine gems from the wannabes, it’s the experts behind Mr & Mrs Smith, the “boutique and luxury hotel specialists” whose website, mrandmrssmith.com sets the ultimate standard for discerning travellers. “‘Boutique hotel’ must be up there as one of the most over- and misused terms,” says James Lohan, co-founder and managing director of Mr & Mrs Smith. “At Smith, we look for genuine boutique hotels, and we love special stays that have their own wow factor… Boutique has become the norm for luxury hotels, so any would-be hoteliers out there have to be original to really cut through.”

According to Smith, a hotel must have a combination of style, quality, great service and individuality in order to qualify. Ideally, the lodging should have fewer than 50 rooms — though, on occasion, they can be bigger in size. “There still needs to be an intimate feeling — cozy corners, discretion,” says Lohan. “You don’t want warrens of long, soulless corridors and cookie-cutter rooms.”

Style, in general, cannot be compromised, says Lohan. No matter what the genre — contemporary, designer, antique-filled, traditional — the hotel needs to have a well-executed concept. “The best hotels seamlessly blend colour, texture, textiles, music, ambiance, lighting, taste, staff and service to create a certain experience,” says Lohan.

That experience is difficult to spot when you’re booking a room online (that’s where Smith and other trusted sources come in), but Lohan has a long list of warning signals to look out for. If you catch the scent of standardized furniture, conference facilities, name badges on staff, hangers fixed to rails, unimaginative toiletries, corporate branding or all-day buffets, run the other way!

Mr and Mrs Smith has bestowed its approval on three Canadian locations: The Hazelton Hotel and the Drake Hotel in Toronto, and Hotel St-Paul in Montreal. The three are completely different, but each makes vacationers feel special as soon as they step in the door.

The Hazelton’s rooms are “undoubtedly Toronto’s most chic,” says Lohan. “It’s a world where Bulgari-stocked ensuites are astonishingly sprawling and pillow-top mattresses are clad in 300-thread-count linen.” The hipster-loved Drake has a less posh vibe, but Smith loves its originality. “Not only are the Drake’s hip bunk-ups fantastically priced but there’s an excellent choice of entertainment, dining and drinking options on your lap. You can enjoy home-baked scones in the café, sample sushi and live jazz from the bar in the lounge, or plump for a mean steak-frites in the dining room, then head up to the Sky Yard for cocktails on the roof or down to the Underground for live bands or a cutting-edge club night,” says Lohan. “It’s a true cultural hub, with really great design influence on the décor.”

For Hotel St-Paul, the first Canadian hotel to which Smith bestowed its stamp of approval, Lohan has equal praise. “The dramatic Beaux Arts exterior of what was once Canada’s Grand Trunk Railway building is much softer on the inside, with its minimalist monochrome palette, offset by warming brush strokes of colour,” says Lohan.

“The hotel rooms and suites are pared down in a sophisticated way, with huge windows inviting light onto polished hardwood floors and billowing drapes on the beds.” Lohan especially loves the lobby, where a “colossal array of ice-white marble blocks houses a flickering open fire.”

As the boutique business grows worldwide, trends emerge within the industry. “(Environmental) sustainability in travel is bound to get bigger and bigger. It’s something Canada is already forging ahead with by creating low-impact buildings, implementing green staff training and planting kitchen gardens,” says Lohan. “Zero food miles,” the label given to fare literally grown on-site, and seasonal, locally sourced produce are also becoming paramount to properties with restaurants.

Regardless of which hotel you decide to splurge on, late 2009 (into early 2010) might provide the ideal time to indulge. “No one has dared raise room rates in 2009,” says Lohan. In previous years, hotels could ask whatever price they wanted for a room — and get it — but Lohan says that’s changed. “People are now much more price-conscious… I suspect room rates may come down even further.”