Word: schrager
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...marketing professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. "For all practical purposes, the traditional hotel is obsolete. There's too much wasted space, it doesn't look inviting, and there's an erosion of brand loyalty." Starwood Hotels & Resorts chairman Barry Sternlicht tried in vain to lure Schrager to his camp. The company, which owns the Westin and Sheraton chains, is currently busy rolling out the self-consciously hip W line of hotels in 16 cities, including Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. Hyatt is opening more of its smaller, luxury Park Hyatt brand--boutiques for grownups--while Marriott...
...Schrager broke new ground when he decided that a "point of view" is more important than standardization in a hotel. It's been his stock-in-trade since 1984, when he and his late partner Steve Rubell (whose family today runs its own hotels in Miami) opened Morgans in midtown Manhattan. It was both a professional and a personal reclamation project. The two spent slightly more than a year in prison for tax evasion following the collapse of their disco empire; soon after, they ventured into a more respectable branch of the hospitality industry. "People expected...
Like many frugal hotel entrepreneurs today, Schrager's formula is to "reinvent" dilapidated structures instead of building from scratch. He has made an art form of saving money with style--making industrial-quality fixtures look fashionable. He never skimps on attitude, though--ask anyone who has been chided for trying to move the carefully arranged pool chairs at Los Angeles' Mondrian. Schrager stages casting calls and hires aspiring actor-models to play the help; the snooty service can be unimpressive to customers who lack agents...
...Schrager, a pop-culture junkie who combs through 50 magazines a week, is proving style and attitude are profitable. He has consistently enjoyed 80% to 90% occupancy rates at his properties; the industry average is about 65%. This year, with only six hotels now going at full speed, he expects to turn an operating profit of $120 million, and in a few years his company could be worth $2 billion...
...just design and marketing. He's a very efficient operator," says Edward Scheetz, a partner at real estate investment firm Northstar Capital, which, with help from financier George Soros, has shelled out a few hundred million dollars for a majority stake of the newly incorporated Ian Schrager Hotels. For instance, nearly everything in your room, from sheets and towels to toilet brushes, is for sale. Schrager's even giving thought to opening stores to sell these wares. And he leases in-house restaurants and bars, which can typically be a major drag on hotel earnings...