Boutique hotels and franchise are remarkably different business models despite effectively offering and identical service. The boutique hotel is predicated on freedom and flexibility, the opportunity for adventure and the chance to experience a different (often, more personalised) mode of hospitality to what you may typically expect. Franchise hotels offer something almost diametrically opposed to this philosophy. They are presented as a known-quantity, with a high standard of luxury and service which can be replicated the world over. With this, the customer can feel a sense of familiarity and as if the hotel is a home-from-home, thousands of miles away.