When I was in business school, I learned that hotels are not necessarily the best business to be in. The market is fickle and very dependent on upturns and downturns. In addition, apparently a lot of hoteliers are just people who like to entertain their friends in their nice hotels -- hence they are not the most business-minded people. In other words, like restauranteurs, yoga studio owners, and people who own interesting gift shops with products made by artisans in the developing world, hotel owners are not always bottom-line oriented and therefore lose out.
But the Kimpton Hotel chain challenges this belief (first articulated by my real estate professor in business school). The Kimpton brand is a chain of boutique hotels. They seem to be everywhere now, at least in the cities that I want to go to (sorry, Lincoln!). Each one is different, but consistently fabulous -- the way you'd want in a nice brand. I've now stayed in the Hotel George and the Hotel Rouge in DC, the Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge (for my college reunion -- more on that later), the Hotel Palomar in Atlanta, and now the Hotel Allegro in Chicago. They seem to be profitable, since they are growing and haven't disappeared in the recent giant recession. They are very stylish, the service is awesome, and when I check in I feel like a glamorous kind of person. And their rates are lower than what you might pay at Hyatt or similar.
But the main reason I love Kimpton is that if you are a member of their Kimpton frequent guest thingie (of which you become a member simply by signing up) you get free internet access. And, crucially, all you have to do to verify your membership status is to enter your email address. No 10-character code required. And, voila, you can spend your evening checking email. Or blogging, as the case may be.
I'm making use of said service this very minute, here in Chicago. I just saw my ABA editor and we had a swell time over drinks at the Wit Hotel. I'm creatively inspired, and so decided to share with my seven or so dedicated readers my latest insight.
Okay, I'm being bashful. Let's say 20 dedicated readers.
Check out Kimpton! They are pretty awesome.
Hello: Love your book and blog. FYI we just purchased MacBook Pros and bought a Brother DCP8080DN. We have always used HP printers but they always had problems with Macs. This Brother is a breeze. It has easy set up, scans perfectly and is stupid simple to operate. Check this one out. Maybe you can save some research time, since we already spent time doing ours.
Posted by: Jean Beattie | October 11, 2010 at 09:02 AM
Hi Jean,
Hey, guess what? I bought that very same printer/scanner and I love it. Just took three months give my technophobia but was worth the wait!
Michael
Posted by: michael@michaelmelcher.com | January 03, 2011 at 05:12 PM
I recently discovered the joys of Kimpton as well! I have been travelling to the Seattle area for years, but only recently started to stay regularly downtown. I was looking for a value and got a great rate at Kimpton's Vintage Park. What a pleasure! A beautiful room, welcoming staff, a complimentary wine tasting and fantastic restaurant! I since stayed at their Hotel Monaco property, just a block from the Vintage Park, and it is a bit more oppulent and also fantastic. I also like that they are pet friendly (including a gold fish at the front and board with names for all the "pets in residence." Plus, it is progressive in other ways -- sponsoring local outreach programs to HIV support organizations and actively soliciting gay travellers and tourists. This is certainly not something you find at Marriott or other chains.
Posted by: Andrew Gold | January 04, 2011 at 06:08 AM