After going through all of the awesome travel tips you all offered last week, one stuck out: Boutique Hotels. I had never heard of such a thing! Have you? Regarding where to stay on vacation, Autumn says, “Find boutique hotels. They’re a little more than your chain hotels but the experiences are worth it.”

Obviously, I had to know more! Though there is no official definition, boutique hotels are small (no more than 100 rooms), often situated in the heart of a city, and have a historic or quirky theme.

When they were in San Diego, Autumn and her husband stayed at The Lafayette. Part of the movie Top Gun was filmed in this hotel! Specifically, the bar scene in which Tom Cruise sang “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling.” True story.

When they were in San Francisco, they stayed at Hotel Whitcomb, which served as the city’s City Hall from 1912 to 1915. In the basement, you can see the old jail! For the more adventurous, there is the Wigwam Motel, right on Historic Route 66. This motel has been a Route 66 staple since 1930, and is featured in the movie Cars, (animated, of course) as the Cozy Cone Motel. Here are some other interesting sounding boutique hotels…

In New York City, there’s the Library Hotel, which has 10 floors, each dedicated to a class in the Dewey Decimal System. Each guest room houses art and books based on the floor/Dewey Decimal class it’s in. In total, there are 6,000 books in the Library Hotel

In Tel Aviv, the Market House Hotel was built on top of the remains of an 8th century Byzantine Chapel.  You can see the remains through the glass floor in the lobby.

The American Queen Steamboat Company offers themed voyages on a Mississippi River Steamboat. Themes include Big Band, Mark Twain, Civil War, and Bourbon.

If you want to find more boutique hotels, try Historic Hotels of America, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or search TripAdvisor for Boutique Hotels in your desired destination.

Thank you so much, Autumn! In addition to the inspiration, she provided the photos for this post.

Have you ever stayed in a historic or boutique hotel? What did you think?

If you’re interested….a tour of a Hawaiian coffee plantation and a trip to Paradise, MI.