boutique & lifestyle lodging association
BLLA Announces Winners of the 2024 Boutique Hospitality Awards
BLLA | September 11, 2024
Celebrating Excellence in Boutique Hospitality Worldwide Los Angeles, CA (September 11, 2024)—The Boutique Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA), the original boutique hotel association established in 2009, is proud to announce the 2024 BLLA Awards winners. Now in its fourteenth year, the BLLA Awards continue to honor the most daring and innovative achievements in the global boutique hospitality industry, recognizing the world's finest hotels, visionaries, and partners. 2024 Award Winners In the Best Boutique Hotel Under 50 Rooms category, Hotel 1928 in Waco, Texas, claimed the top prize, celebrated for its unique charm and dedication...
The Annual Gathering for Boutique Hotel Owners Scheduled to Meet in October
BLLA | September 27, 2023
Charting the Future: Global Boutique Hospitality Industry Convenes to Strategize New Era of Hotel Ownership Los Angeles, CA - September 27, 2023 - The Boutique Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) proudly presents the 12th iteration of the esteemed Boutique Hotel Owners Conference, slated for October 10-11, 2023. This year, the Westlake Village Inn in Los Angeles will play host to a transformative retreat-style experience, captivating attendees from start to finish. The Boutique Hotel Owners Conference, brought to you by the official global association founded in 2009, serves not only as a cornerstone for independent, boutique hotels an...
Dissecting the Relationship Between Universities and Boutique Hotels
Frances Kiradjian | September 6, 2018
Why do University campuses lend themselves so well to bespoke hotel experiences? By Frances Kiradjian Boutique hotels are "it". After a struggle to be taken seriously as a hospitality vertical, boutique hotels are ahead of every curve when it comes to modern day lodging. Now more than ever there is a steep demand for accommodations that one can take back home with them in the form of a story. It makes sense then, that college towns (areas with particularly high volume of travelers whether they are students, prospective students, professors & staff or parents of students) are adapting and implementing boutique in their own ways. P...
What IS Boutique?
Frances Kiradjian | September 5, 2018
By Frances Kiradjian As representatives for a distinguished community of entrepreneurial spirits, we are often presented with a deceptively simple question: What is boutique? Some years ago, a new kind of lodging accommodation began to disrupt the trillion-dollar tourism industry. As the boundaries between business and leisure travel grew increasingly blurred, an emergence of a new type of traveler called for a more holistic approach to lodging. Thus, the boutique hotel was born. Perks like free wifi became givens, and in their absence demand for personalization grew exponentially. The traveler of today is looking for services and featu...
When Does a Hotel Become Not a Hotel?
Frances Kiradjian | August 23, 2018
By Frances Kiradjian As we march further into this exciting time in hospitality, the boundary lines between various lodging accommodations grow increasingly blurred. Now more than ever, mega-brands are adopting key pieces from the boutique handbook in order to stay competitive and increase occupancy rates. Conversely, brands who evolved from the hostel model are pivoting away from shared sleeping quarters to move toward a cross somewhere in-between a hostel and boutique vibe. Generator found their footing in the modern lodging world with their successful hostel model which can be found sprinkled throughout Europe. However, when pursuing...
How Do You “Boutique” Your Hotel?
Frances Kiradjian | August 14, 2018
Hospitality professionals can apply the best of boutique to any and all lodging accommodations. By Frances Kiradjian While we are the biggest champions of boutique you'll likely come across, at BLLA, we realize the transformation of the term from differentiator to buzzword. Today, it is not uncommon to find a property touting themselves as boutique even though they're a branded chain or an economic lodging solution like a motel. Boutique started as an underdog in the world of lodging solutions, particularly luxury accommodations. Now, after a long climb to legitimacy, professionals and non professionals in the lodging space ofte...
The Evolution of the Hotel Lobby
Frances Kiradjian | August 1, 2018
By Frances Kiradjian Hotel lobbies have evolved from portals where travelers are introduced to their lodging accommodations to places people gather to immerse themselves in culture and merriment. The evolution of the hotel lobby has been gradual, but the proliferation of lifestyle and boutique properties have shifted the design away from clinical hotel lobbies. Much like the sitting room in your childhood home where sitting was forbidden, lobbies formerly existed to curate good first impressions, and not much else. Nowadays, the opposite is true. Highly designed lobbies are more prevalent than ever before, but design has evolved to faci...
Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) Connects All of Boutique Hospitality at 6th Annual Boutique Hotel Investment Conference in New York Ci
the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) | May 29, 2018
BLLA exists as the go-to resource for all things boutique. Our events and conferences are an extension of our efforts to push the most exciting sector in lifestyle and lodging into the future. In its sixth iteration, the Boutique Hotel Investment Conference now focuses on the hospitality adjacent industries powering the modern boutique movement. NEXT GEN BOUTIQUE MONEY – the concept of a hotel is being redefined. With lodging accommodations being reshaped by industries like wellness, fashion, fitness, nightlife, and food & beverage, it is important to pause and take an aerial view of the direction of our sector. Our agenda inc...
