A boutique style hotel in Shanghai named Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai is selected as the most popular hotel in Shanghai via Tripadvisor.com

The boutique hotel near the Bund, which has received investments from China's largest port operator, Shanghai International Port (Group) Co Ltd and the US-based conglomerate Pen Holdings Inc, is managed by Les Suites Taipei. The New York Times and New York Magazine both ranked the hotel chain as the best in Taiwan.

Boutique hotels, which originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s, are becoming more popular in China.

According to Traveldaily.cn, the number of boutique hotels that cooperate with Ctrip.com International Ltd, a popular travel agency in China, increased by 200 percent from 2008 to 2010.

Boutique hotels in China are mostly in large, affluent cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Nanjing.

At Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai, the average occupancy in 2011 was 70 percent, while the average occupancy of five-star hotels in China was 63.85 percent.

"Although the number is lower than 2010 when the World Expo was held in Shanghai, it's still substantial. It shows the business has returned to normal levels and that we have well established ourselves among our target customers," said Joseph Pi, the hotel's chief operating officer.

Pi said boutique hotels will grow in popularity in cities throughout China.

"Business travelers are often under more pressure and have to work for longer hours during business trips. These unique boutique hotels can help to reduce the pressure on them," he said.

"In a remote tourist destination, it is safer to choose a large international hotel because it lowers the tourists' risk of uncertainty. But in big cities like Shanghai, I would recommend tourists try different interesting boutique hotels. In fact, in most cases, they can find very impressive ones."

A boutique hotel usually has no more than 100 rooms and is unique in design. Most have high-end facilities and pay close attention to customer service. Pi said that successful boutique hotels should have three elements.

Source: xinhua