A preliminary study on boutique hotels in the city of Kuala Lumpur - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 39

A preliminary study on boutique hotels in the city of Kuala Lumpur

A.S. Arifin, S.A. Jamal, A.A. Aziz & S.S. Ismail
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Manageemnt, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

ABSTRACT: This paper discusses about boutique hotels in the centre of the city of Kuala Lumpur and
provides a definition, overview and the characteristics of boutique hotels and the responses of their guests.
This study also investigates factors influencing guest experience in these boutique hotels. To investigate
these experiences, the methodology includes site observation, a rigorous literature review, questionnaire
surveys and an analysis of online guest reviews on the hotel website. The findings suggest that the density
of boutique hotels is skewed to the Kuala Lumpur city centre. The results also indicate that the existence
of boutique hotels is welcomed by local guests, with a majority of them giving positive responses. The
results reveal the following three dimensions of guest experience: (i) physical environment; (ii) interac-
tion with employees; and (iii) interaction with other guests. The findings offer important implications for
industry marketing.

Keywords : Boutique hotels, guest experience, Malaysia, preliminary study

1 INTRODUCTION

personal tastes and increase the value of a hotel's
products (Oh, Fiore & Jeoung, 2007). Erdly and
Kesterson-Townes (2002) acknowledged that the
hospitality industry is focusing on delivering cus-
tomised experiences to its guests. Customised
experiences may be shifting in certain sectors of
the hospitality industry, such as the accommoda-
tion sector, from a differentiation of services to
guest experiences and a memorable stay.
Previous researchers have examined boutique
hotels all over the world, covering the United
States (Gao, 2013; Walls, 2013), the United King-
dom (Aggett, 2007; Lim & Endean, 2009), South
Africa (Rogerson, 2010), Turkey (Erkutlu & Cha-
fra, 2006), Australia (Lwin & Phau, 2013), Thai-
land (Rompho & Boon-itt, 2012), and Singapore
(Henderson, 2011). Though a significant number
of boutique hotels exist throughout Malaysia,
research in this area is still very limited.
This study investigates the factors that influ-
ence guest experience in the boutique hotels in
Kuala Lumpur. This study identifies the factors
that inspire guests to stay in boutique hotels, which
should explain what guests want in a boutique
hotel.
The paper includes four sections. The first sec-
tion examines the definition of boutique hotels,
which includes the current definition. The second
section discusses the development of boutique
hotels in Malaysia, and the third section examines
the characteristics of boutique hotels there. Finally,
the last section discusses the factors that influence
guests to stay at a boutique hotel.

In the past twenty years, market change, shifting
production and varying guest trends have encour-
aged product differentiation in the hotel industry
(Timothy & Teye, 2009). Thus, product differen-
tiation puts pressure on hotels to improve their
performance, anticipate change, and develop
new structures. Rogerson (2010) emphasised that
guests currently search for new and unique expe-
riences that are different from traditional hotels.
These guests deliberately search for accommoda-
tions that are distinctly different in appearance
and experience from brand hotels (Albazzaz et al.,
2003). Because of this search for unique experi-
ences, boutique hotels were invented in the early
1980s, and today, the boutique hotel sector is
growing worldwide.
Boutique hotels are an example of customer
experience differentiation because guests are
treated with personalised service. The definition
of the boutique hotel as a small-scale, design-
conscious operation with individuality (McNeill,
2009) has been controversial lately. Nevertheless,
the design and uniqueness of boutique hotels
are the focus of a differentiation strategy used
to compete with mainstream hotel chains. The
unique architecture, buildings and furniture are
the driving forces of a boutique hotel's develop-
ment (Aggett, 2007).
In today`s service economy, guests seek unique
events that create unforgettable and long-lasting
experiences. Services can cater to guests' unique