Boutique hotels worth booking for the street outside, not just the lobby

Boutique hotels are small by design, and that's both the appeal and the risk. With forty rooms instead of four hundred, a hotel can know your name, stock the minibar with things from the neighborhood, and put real thought into the bathroom lighting. It can also mean a tiny elevator, no night porter, and a room that looked bigger in the photos.

We judge boutique hotels mostly by location and fit. Is the neighborhood the reason you're here? Can you walk to breakfast? Is the standard room genuinely livable for a three-night stay, or is the second category the real starting point?

Design matters to us, but only when it helps. A gorgeous lobby with nowhere to sit isn't a feature. A thoughtful room with good blackout curtains and a desk you can actually work at is.

Look here for neighborhood hotels in places like Charleston, New York and Chicago, small coastal properties, and the occasional inn worth a detour on a road trip.