What makes a luxury hotel “full service”?The hearts of the BLLA family go out to everyone effected by the relentless California wildfires. Our state has been hit particularly hard these last few months. But through trial comes triumph. Our community answers tragedy with community and resilience. This week, one of our board members in Santa Barbara, Carlos Lopes, broached the subject of what it truly means to be a ‘full service, luxury’ hotel. In the face of all their neighboring properties (Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara, the Belmond El Encanto Hotel, the San Ysidro Ranch and the Ojai Valley Inn) shutting down due to smoke and the proximity of the flames, The Hotel Californian stepped up its services instead and provided necessities like smoke masks for guests, transportation to the hospital for those with asthma issues and even providing on-site medical care when necessary. Luxury boutique hotels go above and beyond every day of the week to ensure their hotel guests are taken care beyond their expectations. However, we all know talking about it and putting words into action are two different things. The Californian Hotel is recognized by the association for their astute sense of hospitality in such a precarious and dire situation. Bravo to Mr. Lopes, Managing Director, Warren Nocon General Manager and their entire team who stated, “This is a new chapter to our business.” (Note: The El Encanto is open but not accepting new guests from reports received) BLLA is here as a resource to anyone in the community and everyone effected by the recent fires. Conference Updates: The Boutique Hotel Investment Conference returns to the New York Times Center June 6th 2018. Learn more here. Don’t forget, association members get discounted rates to all BLLA events! Learn more about membership here. | 
