CA eco-cruises Eagle Cap, Ore. Jamestown Wired travel Ga. Trailblazing boutique hotels include the Royalton, the Paramount and the Mercer in New York, the Triton in San Francisco, and the Delano in Miami. But the trend can be traced as far back as the Blakes Hotel in London, a clubby luxury retreat that opened in 1981, where no two rooms are alike and the restaurant is as adventurous as the decor.
Boutique hotels are hard to define.
The name implies small size, but a so-called boutique may have 200 rooms or more. And though moderately priced boutique hotels exist, style isn't cheap, especially at the most recent entries. They're usually whimsical. Some offer a handsome menu of services but don't turn down your bed at night. Rooms can be tiny, with narrow hallways, particularly in older buildings.