If you’ve not heard of Ian Schrager, all of us have just been “aged.” For neophytes, when it comes to place-tastemakers, Schrager is about is good as it gets: he invented concept of the “boutique hotel and “executive suite,” but reached Trend-Setting Olympus by introducing the world to the seminal Studio 54 in New York, a location so influential it is still regarded as the standard for nightclubs even 32 years after it closed. He’s been on a sprint all over the globe ever since.
But come 2015, he makes a glorious swing through the Big Apple with his latest EDITION (yes, with the all-caps). Clubs, hotels–this man has never lost his knack for putting people in trendy digs, and New Yorkers have probably stared up with curiosity to all the construction going on at the iconic, quasi-Venetian MetLife Clock Tower at 5 Madison Avenue overlooking Madison Square Park. It will be Schrager’s latest stamp, with a little help from Marriott Hotels & Resorts, set to open in 2015.
“It is a privilege and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Marriott on the first EDITION in New York City at the iconic Clock Tower building,” said Schrager. “This project, along with all of the current and future projects in the pipeline, will prove that EDITION hotels are like no others in the world.”
But what New York is in for is anybody’s guess, and to set the record straight, it will not be one property, but two separate ones. Blogs like Hotelchatter.com and TheRealDeal.com lit up like Christmas trees when it was announced a pair of EDITIONs was coming to Manhattan, then promptly moved on to other stories. Translation: Whatever Schrager’s latest brainwaves are, we’ll find out when everybody else does. While construction of the Clock Tower goes as planned, Schrager and Marriott are mum as to what the second property is, its location, or the opening date.
But for the one we do know about, looking across the Atlantic will give a few quaking trend-addicts some hints of things to come. London, one of Schrager’s traditional hot-zones, is a good starting point. Taking up residence in the former Berners Hotel (circa 1908), the 173-room London EDITION, a darling with London Fashion Week, just to give you an idea of the drawing power, shows how Schrager pulls off the very nifty trick creating something stately without creating something stuffy. Marriott brass gives Schrager a huge amount of leeway with each property, and upon stepping into what immediately strikes you, aside from the lozenge-shaped reflecting sphere suspended from the ceiling, is that old school tradition and new school dazzle aren’t diametrically opposed. Is it artistic? Yes–but you aren’t afraid to sit down on a chair and spoil the ambiance. Is it grand? Yes–but there is just enough subversion to take the edge off. Even the disco ball “works;” it is clearly meant to be the focal point of the lobby, yet curiously does not overpower the décor. Mind you, we haven’t even got to the rooms yet.
“Ian Schrager’s concepts have revolutionized both nightlife and hospitality,” said Bill Marriott, Chairman, Marriott International, in a statement. “Time and time again he succeeds in making people feel as if they are part of something new, unique and special, always eliciting an emotional and visceral connection to the experiences he creates.”
I once heard a friend of my complain that his hotel room (not the EDITION) was “designed to within an inch of its life.” Not having any idea what that could mean, or how it could be a complaint, I had to check it out for myself. Now, first, let me say the hotel, a Times Square space par excellence whacks it out of the stadium. But I did see what he meant: everything was so artistically done some aspects were clearly for the aesthetics but not the practicality. For instance, if the water was turned on too strongly in the funnel-shaped sink, it shot down one side, up the other, and down the front of my pants (elapsed time: about a nanosecond). Architecture trumped occupancy. It looked great in a magazine, but as soon as a person steps into frame, things start to go awry.
Schrager must have stayed at that place, because the London EDITION, while designed down to the millimeter, you never get the idea that you are in a museum piece in spite of the all the museum-quality marble, filigree, and paintings by more Dutch Masters than you knew existed. For all the sleekness and wow-factor, nothing is intimidating or so “designed” it passes out of practical use. In fact, the warm woods of the rooms all but vocally invite you in. The lobby and bar of the London EDITION may be sleek-ified versions of Downton Abbey, but the occupancy spaces, from the rooms to all 2098 sq. ft. of the penthouse lean more towards a luxed-up Mad Men.
But if New Yorkers are jonezin’ for a little Buckingham-on-the-Hudson, they will, sadly, will not be getting it here: Remember when I said “leeway?” Go to the EDITION site, and it will gush that each property is a “refreshing collection of individualized, customized, one-of-a-kind hotels.” They mean that.
Turns out, Schrager tunes each property to the city it is in. No two EDTIONS are alike. Of course the London EDITION would have echoes of an aristocratic manor house–it is in England, and the capital at that. The City That Never Sleeps will get something simpatico, to be sure, but that could be anything in a town that reinvents itself every 20 years or so.
“New York is one of the most important destinations in the world, and we are delighted to have secured the Clock Tower as a singular, iconic structure that will become a flagship for the EDITION brand and one of New York’s most compelling places to stay,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and chief operating officer. “We are thrilled to add the Clock Tower building to our EDITION portfolio.”
“His concepts have been and continue to be widely imitated around the world. For EDITION,” continues Mr. Marriott, “Schrager brings his original vision, passion and commitment to excellence to create something truly special in collaboration with Marriott.”
“People do not want something derivative,” Schrager once said. “They want the real thing and this is the whole idea behind EDITION.”
Sit tight, New York. Good things come to those who wait.
Steele Luxury Travel
www.SteeleTravel.com