Ian Schrager's Next NYC Project

Above, please find a gorgeous parking lot located on the corner of West 19th Street and 10th Avenue. Glorious, right? Really reminds you of colonial times. Anyway, what is now a parking lot is soon to be a new hotel project from the genius that is Ian Schrager. It's a bit of old news, but Schrager's plans to open a "combination of high-end hotels and less expensive hotels" on this site by 2009 seems doubtful. You know, credit crunch and all. But at least we all still get to use that parking lot, and then one day, people paying a lot of money and people paying a bit less will all get to stay right next to each other.

· An Interview With Ian Schrager [Portfolio]

Female Talent: The Recap

What a week! Who knew that our little poll experiment would draw so much attention? Certainly not us, but we aren't complaining. We though a nice way to end the week would be to recap some of our favorite comments and emails. Nifty idea, right? Right.

I think you left out a very key and important place..... Upstairs, how could you even have any of these places and not mention the Upstairs. by far it is much better than any of these other venues.

sincerely,
Richie A.

one who loves the highest quality female talent

Sorry Richie A. We will try harder next time. Promise. One reader thought:

I guess it all depends on what you like. If you want boring, vapid pretty girls with no personality, too much makeup, and priorities that revolve around blowing their way to the top, you can head to 1oak or upstairs, or marquee, or tenjune. But if you want girls that are actually capable of having a conversation, and our hot in that fresh faced, college type of way, I'd much rather head to a spot like Studio B. Shtooping dumb pretty girls has it's benefits, but some of these places just overdo it.

Tell us how you really feel. Finally, our favorite response came from our winner, Rose Bar, who responded to the great news by saying

This is NOT a confirmation.

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We have received your reservation request; thank you for considering the Jade and Rose Bars at the Gramercy Park Hotel.

If we are able to accommodate you we will reply with a confirmation email within 24 hours.

Both bars begin daily service at 12 pm, with lunch being served until 3 pm.

Reservations are required after 9 pm.

Please note that the Rose Bar is closed on Sunday nights after 8 pm. Service is available in the Jade Bar only.

Thank you,

The Jade and Rose Bars at The Gramercy Park Hotel

New York City everyone. Catch the fever.

Schrager Talks Edition

Maybe only fascinating to us, but Hotels Magazine has a nice little podcast interview with Sir Ian Schrager, who openly discusses his Edition Hotels partnership with Marriott. Some of the major highlights:

· There are currently 9 hotels under development now, with 30 expected to be in the planning phase by the end of 2008.
· Marriott's goal is to get at least 100 Edition hotels within 5 years, but Schrager would love to get at least 300 or 400. As many as possible.
· Each hotel will be extremely unique, with a different design company being responsible for a different Edition.
· For the first time Schrager's company may choose to operate the restaurant spaces within the properties, rather than outsource them as he has previously done. Ian says he has a ton of different concepts they could roll out.
· Each Edition will be as green as possible

This really is a fascinating idea that will either prove to be extremely successful or a tremendous bust. At no other time has a single entity sought to create a line of hotels that are all completely different. We wonder how one relatively small firm such as Schrager's, despite the power of Marriott behind it, can really expect to source, develop and market 100+ properties around the globe. But we certainly wouldn't want to bet against this guy.

[Photo Credit]

Can Ian Buy a W?

Yesterday, a little story made the rounds that Ian Schrager had purchased a building on Canal Street with plans to construct a W Hotel. Now, that's just umpossible, with the reason being Schrager has recently entered into a very long term deal with Marriott to jointly develop properties. Guess who owns W? Not Marriott! Scratch that idea. However, we do believe that this hotel could be a Schrager and Co. target. Why? Well, his old partner Morgans Hotel Group is bringing Ian's baby the Mondrian just to the West. Wouldn't it make Ian happy to grab a slice of the Chinatown pie and stick it to his old foes? DBTH says yes. But Morgan's definitely wins the locational battle, unless Ian's potential customers book rooms based on a need to catch the Chinatown bus. We're sticking with this one.

Schrager Takes Boutiques Big Time

So the Mormons of Marriott have come knocking on Ian Schrager's door with the hopes of bringing the boutique hotel to the masses. Good for them. But is it good for the masses? The oh so boutiquey Gansevoort's expansion plan incensed a boutique hotel operator we know, who flittered off a note about the use of 'boutique' when it comes to these impostors hotels, especially Schrager's. This hotel guru says:

A boutique by definition is a shop or a firm that is small and specialized. The hotels I have owned and/or operated are independently owned and adhere to traditional hospitality principles of customer service and satisfaction. The hotel is the thrust of the business. That is a boutique hotel. Hotels such as this have been operating in Europe for over 150 years and this is the legacy that I aspire to be associated with, because it is these hotels that 150 years later are still in business.

Schrager takes credit for coining the term “Boutique Hotel” but he also deserves the credit for bastardizing the term. His biggest offense being the Hudson. 500 rooms, high design and poor service and he was marketing the hell out of the thing as a boutique hotel because it was trendy. Schrager applied this formula well when he created Morgans Hotel, the first boutique hotel he would have you believe, and he proceeded to roll out hotels that got further and further away from those traditional principles. If there is one thing I will say about Schrager is he is an absolute genius in the PR and Marketing arena, his ability to get out his message is second to none and people buy what he sells.

A little rambly but we couldn't agree more. Give Ian credit for creating a modern option when it comes to urban travel. But let's not make it seem like he had invented the wheel. It should also be noted that service and comfort are barely mentioned. To us, that is rule #1. If we don't get a great night sleep and over the top help from the help, why should we care about the note pads on the desk?

As always, your thoughts are welcome in the comments or via airmail.