Stop and Shop

How hotels wordwide are elevating their retail

- TODD PLUMMER

GONE ARE THE days of afterthought gift shops, whether it's a boutique stuffed with destination T-shirts and chintzy tote bags, or an impersonal plaza filled with the same luxury brands you can find in essentially every major city or airport. Hotel gift shops around the world are carving out a niche for themselves and stepping up their game.

Retail presents a diversified revenue stream for a hotel. Consider the Fife Arms, about as traditional a Scottish experience as you can get. It's located in Braemar, where the annual Braemar Gathering is a beloved tradition and the British royal family's Balmoral Castle is just a few miles down the River Dee. The hotel deals in the sort of Scottish experiences one would expect—historic tours, bracing walks—but it has also developed a cult following for something else: its onsite boutique.