Keeping good company

Coined in 1984 by Steve Rubell, co-owner of New York’s Morgans Hotel, the term ‘boutique hotel’ became increasingly popular towards the end of the 80s. When it opened in 1988, The Boathouse was just a restaurant; the rooms were added a little later, making it almost certainly Phuket’s first ‘boutique hotel’ – so how fitting that these pages are sponsored by The Boathouse Phuket.

In 2016, the third generation of Boathouse owners arrived on the scene, Singapore’s publicly listed HPL (Hotel Properties Ltd). The Boathouse belongs to the hotels and resorts division’s ‘Boutique Collection’, which owns the Hard Rock Hotel brand. The group has twelve units in Malaysia, Bali and Thailand – with many more spread further afield, including Four Seasons and Hilton properties. The Thailand hotels include Pattaya’s Hard Rock Hotel, Bangkok’s Metropolitan by COMO and Phuket’s Point Yamu by COMO – as well as The Boathouse. Keeping good company!