Guests emulate the boutique-hotel look in their own houses

When Shari Savitch stays at the fashionable W Hotel in Chicago, she feels remarkably at home, and it's not just because of the pillow-top mattress or the crisp linens. Not unlike the guest rooms at the W, Savitch's two-bedroom Beacon Hill condominium possesses all the earmarks of a posh boutique hotel. Her clutter-free bedroom is a study in sleek minimalism, and the living room is a meticulously planned gathering area that could very well be located in a secluded nook off a swank lobby. All that's missing is the cocktail lounge with a DJ spinning Thievery Corporation records.

"I wanted a look that was simple, very clean, and uncluttered with sleek, elegant lines,'' says Savitch, who works as a nursing administrator. "It just so happens that is exactly what you find in these high-end hotels. It's less is more, which is my new philosophy.''

Savitch is one of a growing number of dwellers who has adopted the ultimate less-is-more philosophy by re-creating the calm surroundings of boutique hotels at home. It's easy to see why: Most designer hotels possess gorgeous, spotless rooms tastefully appointed in muted palettes of warm browns, soothing grays, and hints of aubergine.

"It's all about self-indulgence,'' says Newton-based interior designer Leslie Fine. "If you enjoy staying in these hotels on vacation, then naturally you want to bring that facet into your home.''

Fine, who designed Savitch's condo and who also decorated several rooms in her Newton home in the style of a boutique hotel, is one of many experts with clients looking to emulate hotel living at home. Page Ikeda, whose Atlanta-based company Modern Basics does private design work and makes pillows that are in use at W Hotels in New York and Chicago, recently worked with a client who had stayed at a Scn Francisco foutique hotel and came back excited to overhaul his interior to achieve the same effect.

"He specifically said, 'This is the look that I want.' The room he stayed in had a lot of soothing colors and was very calming,'' she says. "I think what people are after is a specific feel. When they're away on vacation and staying in these spaces, they feel relaxed. They want that same element in their homes.''

It's not only professional designers noticing the trend. After repeated requests (and thefts) from guests looking to bring their cosmopolitan vacations home with them, high-end hotels have begun offering customers an opportunity to buy the furnishings that fill their rooms. The W was one of the first, starting with robes and pillows and eventually expanding to offerings such as Philippe Starck's Ghost Chair and Alessi's E-Li-Li Vase. You can now buy the duvet cover that is used in Times Square (Starlight) or San Diego (Blue Marine). You can even buy the ambient, chill-out compact disc that plays in the clock radio when you check into the room. Hotels such as the Ritz, Four Seasons, and Marriott have all started selling furnishings that are used in their rooms, while stores such as Nordstrom, Linens-N-Things, and Williams-Sonoma Home are selling goods that are billed as "hotel collection.''