When Studio 54 founders Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell opened Morgans Hotel in New York in 1984 it changed holidaying culture overnight. As the mini skirt was to fashion, or Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum to architecture, the world's first boutique hotel stole a march on conventional hotels, reinventing the genre with its thrilling design, must-eat restaurant and sassy approach to service..
So successful was the format that not only did the big hotel chains start offering everything from individually designed bedrooms to pillow menus, but holiday cottage owners and B&B proprietors followed suit.
By the late Noughties, the boutique B&B was the connoisseur's accommodation of choice. Characterful and hard to replicate, they also served as a three-dimensional mood board for design-obsessed travellers looking for interiors ideas to try at home.
But then came Airbnb, with its cheap apartments, followed by Covid, with its demand for sanitised key safes rather than meet-and-greets. As bookings fell, many B&B owners retired, or turned to self-catering.
That isn't quite the end of the story, however. Over the last couple of years the tide has turned once more. Fatigue with identikit apartments, the high prices of many hotels and a yearning for idiosyncratic charm means the boutique B&B is making a triumphant comeback.
Today's guests are newly appreciative of their hosts' deep, local knowledge and heartfelt hospitality. And, as travellers search increasingly for experiences rather than simply a place to stay, it's bringing boutique B&Bs with old bones to the fore, providing 24-hour access to historic buildings and traditional cultures that would normally be off-limits to all but their owners.
If you fancy giving one of them a go yourself, here are five historic B&Bs worth building a European break around this autumn.
Manoir Laurette.
France
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Special 2024-Ausgabe von Homes & Antiques.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Special 2024-Ausgabe von Homes & Antiques.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Collecting Dioramas MINIATURE WORLDS
From elaborate taxidermy museum displays to humble folk art creations, a diorama can transport us to another time and place
Pride of place LEEDS CREAMWARE
In its heyday the pre-eminent rival to Wedgwood's Queens ware, Leeds creamware is still much revered by collectors for its understated elegance
Bohemian Rhapsody
An exuberant approach to decor, with rooms enveloped in colour and pattern, has brought this historic home merrily into the 21st century...
THE ANTIQUES THAT SHAPED ME Rory Hutton
The accessories designer on his love of silver spoons and Sévres porcelain
European HERITAGE B&Bs
Is there anything more inspiring than staying somewhere that's both beautifully stylish and imbued with history? Rhiannon Batten explores five gems across Europe, from Sweden to Spain...
STAR SALES
A Hitchens painting, a museum-quality teapot and a Parisian chocolate box are all top of the lots
Textile designs by artists
Influential 20th-century fine artists and sculptors, from Picasso to Barbara Hepworth, gained additional status as textile designers until decline set in during the 1970s
Period DRAMA
A painstaking renovation has brought this 1725 former Huguenot silk weaver's house in London's Spitalfields back to life
An artist's RESIDENCE
Rustic details and a restrained palette lend a sense of simplicity to this lovingly restored Friesian bakery
Carefully Curated LIVING
This lovingly restored Gustavian manor has become both home and showroom for its owners, Maria & Jan Åke, who deal in European antiques