Velvet ropes: ultra-chic boutique hotels give the big guys a run for their money.

A black Chrysler PT Cruiser parked in front of the building, looking like a traditional British cab, is the first sign that the status quo ends at the door of Sao Paulo's Fasano Hotel. The lobby at one of Sao Paulo's ritziest places to stay is populated with leather armchairs. Walk through the revolving door and you'll see a counter, but instead of receptionists answering phone calls there's a bartender mixing cocktails.

The Fasano is just one example of a new trend in this city: boutique hotels. They're small, chic and more expensive than the city's average rooms. They're glamorous, too, full of sophisticated amenities, such as the pillows filled with Hungarian geese feathers at the Emiliano. Most have plasma televisions. They rely heavily on design to convey their message, from furniture to the whole building itself: The boutique hotel Unique curves into the shape of a half-moon. It's like wandering through a punch bowl.

The Fasano resembles a British country mansion where gentlemen would gather for brandy and cigars. The hotel's inspiration was traditional glamorous hotels such as the legendary Algonquin, where The New Yorker writers used to gather in the 1920s and 1930s, and the Carlyle, both in New York City. "Rogerio Fasano likes to say this is a family hotel," says Dudi Machado, the Fasano's public relations manager. That's the spirit of these places. One might run into the owner himself in the lobby.

According to Hotel Investment Advisors, an industry consultancy, the average rate for a luxury room in Sao Paulo is US$100 a night. A boutique hotel room costs $200 a night. Considering boutiques have less employees and overhead, they end up posting larger profit margins, although none would reveal exact figures. Also, smaller boutique hotels claim to have better occupancy rates than larger ventures. The largest of the boutiques, Unique, has 95 units. The Grand Hyatt, in comparison, counts 470.

The Emiliano reports an average occupancy rate of 75% through 2004. The Fasano reported between 50% and 60%, while the Unique reported 46% in September. According to Ricardo Mader, a consultant with Hotel Investment Advisors, Sao Paulo hotels regularly post 40% occupancy in the luxury segment. In some cases, these rates would be even lower if it were not for agreements made with large airlines to host international flight crews.

Even more remarkable is that the number of luxury hotels--both boutique and traditional--grew as demand plummeted, even after years of heavy investment that started when large international hotel companies realized, in the early 1990s, that Sao Paulo was a rich and underdeveloped market. As a consequence, in some regions of the city the supply of luxury rooms tripled even as business guests vanished in the wake of economic turmoil in late 2002 and 2003. Nevertheless, these places seem to be faring better than some of the world's largest chains. And it's all due to a sexy mix of privacy, luxury, attention to detail, charm, and of course, low overhead.

These hotels are smaller, and have lower fixed costs, says Mader. Also, "they've managed to stay away from the price war that affected the big hotels" he says.

For foreigners, hotel rates may be less of an issue than with Brazilian guests. Exchange rates make fares quite a bargain considering the real's slide against the dollar and the euro in wake of the 1999 devaluation. "Foreign customers are usually surprised with our rates that are around $100 lower than other Hyatts," says Silvio Araujo, marketing director at the Grand Hyatt, one of the most successful ventures among the new big-chain hotels in the city. Rates there start at $110 and were as low as $75 at group rates during slower business times.

To be true, some of the big chains aren't just letting their clients walk away. The newer ventures, such as the Hyatt and neighboring Hilton Morumbi, another large, 400-room hotel in the middle of the city's business district, rely heavily on design and offer similar amenities. At the Hyatt, wealthy guests coming for the second time have their room keys handed to them by the captain porter and go straight to the suite, where they find sheets spun from Egyptian cotton. "We have all these amenities in our executive floors," says Araujo. "But people go to the boutique hotels to see and be seen, to enjoy the hype."

Cash, flash. Unlike big chains, boutique hotels in Sao Paulo are usually personal endeavors of wealthy people. Jonas Siaulys, the owner of the Unique, is an heir to Ache, a large pharmaceutical company, and has invested $30 million of his personal fortune to build the hotel. Carlos Alberto Filgueiras, who made money in Brazilian real estate, built the Emiliano. The Fasano is the just the latest venture of its namesake family, an Italian dynasty of restaurateurs that has been in the hospitality business for more than a century and runs some of city's most upscale restaurants.

These hip hotels also feature a long list of celebrities in their guest books. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is a regular at the Emiliano, while shipping heiress Athina Onassis stayed at the Unique only a few months after it opened, as did fashion designer Calvin Klein and supermodel Naomi Campbell. Caetano Veloso, one of Brazil's most popular songwriters, booked a full month at the Fasano when he premiered a new album at Baretto, the place's bar, which has booked acts like U.S. standards singer Steve Ross and Rio de Janeiro samba artist Ivone Lara.

Apart from that, boutiques try to develop different profiles. The Unique bets on its cosmopolitan allure. The hotel pursues having celebrities as guests and having commercials and fashion editorials shot at its suites or in the Skye restaurant, which claims to have one of the best views of Sao Paulo's skyline. "Our guests come for the glamour," says Unique's general manager, Rodrigo Dezan Cunha.

At the Emiliano, each guest has a butler who handles luggage, hangs clothes and shines shoes. There are 150 newspapers from all over the world available. At a second stay the guest won't need to set the room's temperature again; it's stored and retrieved for convenience. "We are the opposite of the 'McDonald's hotels' of the big chains," says Emiliano sales director Felipe Silva. "This is an intimate place. We know our guests by name and take care of every detail," he adds.