Global Impact The Innovator

An Interview with , Chairman and Chief Executive Offi cer, Ian Schrager Company

EDITORS’ NOTE During the ’70s COMPANY BRIEF After leaving Morgans have paradigm shifts that often. we evolve and and ’80s, Ian Schrager and his late Hotel Group in 2005, Ian Schrager we have to make adjustments and certain busi- business partner, , cre- developed Ian Schrager Company ness models lose their vogue. certain businesses ated and Palladium. (www.ianschragercompany.com), have good runs. so it continues to evolve. Rubell and Schrager soon turned which owns, develops, manages, and For me, instinctively, it’s another bad cy- their attention to the hotel business brands hotels, residential, and mixed- cle. all the bad cycles i’ve been through have opening Morgans Hotel in 1984. use projects. It is currently involved in all been somewhat different; all have different Following this were the equally projects in various stages of comple- causes and precipitating factors. but things are well-received and highly success- tion, including Ambassador East in getting better now and i’m sure it will be better ful and Paramount Chicago. than it ever was in a few years. Hotel. Schrager received inter- In the good times, we saw a boom in national recognition and acclaim When you look at the past 24 boutique hotels, a concept you created. Was for his one-of-a-kind “urban re- Ian Schrager months, were you surprised at it frustrating to see it being used so broadly? sorts” – the Delano Hotel in Miami how deep the crisis was and how it wasn’t frustrating. the one benefi t was and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood. This were you positioned during that time? that it gave what we did credibility and accept- was followed by the in , i’ve been in the business since 1982 and ability, and fi nally big business accepted the fact and expansions into San Francisco with the Clift as a purchaser of real estate rather than just a that this wasn’t a quirky business model that Hotel and London with St. Martins Lane Hotel management company, so i was a bit more vul- was only supported by people who wear black and the Sanderson Hotel. In 2006, he completed nerable to the economy. and live in soho. the Hotel in collaboration with but when you come up with a distinct they misunderstood how huge the market artist . His fi rst residential proj- product, it weathers the storm because you’re was and that people do respond to innovation, ect was 50 Gramercy Park North, followed by his offering something that no one else offers. product distinction, and so on. second project, 40 Bond. Schrager’s latest ven- every time you go through a bad cycle, they’re getting it now. it changed the in- ture partnership with in- when the good cycle returns, you always ex- dustry and made it open to doing things that tends to create a new brand of as many as 100 ceed the previous peak. so the graph keeps are more design sensitive with more empha- hotels that will combine the unique lodging ex- ascending. sis on innovation and heightened experience perience that he created with the operational ex- the one thing that was different about this rather than effi ciencies of execution. customers pertise that Marriott is known for on a global bad cycle was that it came on precipitously and benefi t from that. scale. The hotels will be located in gateway cities no one could have anticipated it. normally, the now everybody is jumping on this band- throughout North and South America, Europe, slowdown happens a quarter to two quarters wagon. so it’s about reinventing yourself. and Asia. before and you start preparing. it didn’t hap- i made my arrangement with marriott be- pen like that this cause the ideas that we contributed weren’t time. commensurate with the amount of hotels we two segments had done. of business were Was it clear Marriott was the right part- more adversely af- ner up front and how critical was your re- fected than others: lationship with Bill Marriott in knowing it the business trav- would work? eler, being sensitive it was a purposeful, painstaking courtship to having meetings, and one based upon mutual respect. on the but more impor- outside, we look different from each other but tantly, the high- there are many similarities. end wealthy luxury it was a learning process for me, and one traveler. in previous that required compromises; none that adversely cycles, it was the impacted the product, but compromises. there wage earners. was a developer, there was the marriott, and it i have heard was something i had to get my arms around and all the experts al- feel comfortable with, which i now do. ways say when we the marriott guys are the best and brightest go through a bad in the business. they can do what i can’t do and cycle, there is a vice versa, which is why it’s a good partnership. paradigm shift and things will never be The Waikiki EDITION: Lobby and Artwork (above); Private Sunset the same. you don’t Beach (left);View from a Room at Sunset (right) 52 Leaders posted with permission. copyright © 2011 leaders magazine, inc. volume 34, number 1 i wanted to go with marriott because it of- the spa function in a hotel is like a pool: a marketing surveys. it’s what i like and i hap- fered the scale i was interested in. i was always lot of people don’t use it but they want to know pen to be lucky that lots of people out there interested in creating a great hotel. i was never it’s there. it does help to offer that, especially respond to it. interested in brand or company. in a state where everyone is so health-oriented, but it’s a personal expression and vision; because everyone was taking the ideas but it’s not essential. a fi tness room is essential; it’s not a replication of somebody else’s idea. that we have and replicating them, we needed a spa is not essential, but it is a plus. but it and somebody else will come along and take it some new ideas and to partner with somebody needs to be able to support itself and contribute to the next level. people are already doing dif- that could roll it out and get the scale i could to profi ts. ferent versions of what we started doing. not on my own. You have also been successful on the Knowing the business so well, is it You recently opened Waikiki EDITION. residential side. How much growth do you tough to step back and give up some con- How big do you want the EDITION brand to foresee in that area, and will residential trol with all the projects you’re involved in? get and do you foresee the opportunity to continue to be a focus? i don’t like things being done differently build a large hotel brand? this is a good time in this economy to get than the way i would do them, but i don’t have i would like it to be as big as possible. it back into residential. the autonomy that i’m used to having. marriott doesn’t only fi t into a very narrow defi nition of this notion of branding hotels is a great has their feelings and there is a developer/ the kind of hotel that we do. i can do a hotel fi t with branded residential as well – you’re not owner involved and they have strong feelings. at any price point in any location better than cookie-cutting the rooms, the layout, the fi n- the compromises that are necessary to make it anybody else. ishes, or the details. work are worth the scale that i get out of it. i so if you want to build a hotel in des i like the residential business because it am a perfectionist, but you learn to live with it. moines, iowa and there is a demand for it, i can build a hotel that fi ts in and works in des moines and that is responsive to what people there want to have. and i can do it better than the other generic properties there. Is there an understanding today that value can come at all price points? it isn’t the only criteria. but there has to be value. value doesn’t mean only inexpensive. people can buy luxury goods and pay a lot of money for them, but they think they’re getting their money’s worth. good value means somebody is paying something and they are getting something they perceive to be as valuable or more valuable than the actual money they gave. Was it ever a thought to brand under your own name? i always thought that if i did try a brand, people might think i was selling out. now i realize that i have a common at- titude and approach, so i would be able to call all of the hotels that i’ve done private label, as long as they’re all great and innovative; it lets everybody know what level of expectation they should have when they go. so i would have a provides a great environment, whether it’s with with marriott in my edition arrange- brand going forward. a restaurant, bar, , or hotel. ment, i don’t operate the hotels, and i don’t Many hoteliers talk about the chal- in europe and asia, they have a tradition build them. i have to make sure the operations lenges on the restaurant side. Is that an area of service departments. we never had that in are consistent with the ethos of the product, and where a hotel can truly be profi table, and this country. so taking that notion and offering they’re open and receptive to that. what is your outlook for branded restau- great service and all the amenities that are in but because i don’t build it, own it, or rants and celebrity chefs? a hotel while having the privacy of your own make the acquisition, i’m focused on what i do i like to think i changed that part of the residence is a modern way of living. best, which is conceptualize, program, design, business, because when we got started, any- so we’re going to see more of that. create, and help market. thing that the hotel offered had to be a profi t Why isn’t there a better understanding and through the process, i’ve learned i’m center. as an owner, i want to be able to make of the value the travel and tourism industry capable of working on a lot of hotels. money. brings, and is it too segmented to create a You’re at a stage where you could slow also, when you go to one of our hotels, and unifi ed voice? down if you wanted to, but you’re as busy as you want to go to the best restaurant or bar in it’s too segmented – people don’t realize ever. Is it not in your nature to slow down? town, it’s wonderful to have it right downstairs. all the various components of the industry. we i do this because it’s a way of expressing it makes for a more encompassing experience. are a service economy. they don’t realize it, but myself – it’s like breathing and i love to do it. so that has always been part of our business we couldn’t live without the kind of things we the test is when i don’t love it anymore; model and it’s quite profi table. now the rest of in business do. it’s part of the recreational en- when it’s just a business and about maximizing the hotel companies are realizing this. joyment business needs. but people don’t piece profi tability, it’s time to get out. you need food and beverage not only be- it all together. Do you take the time when you fi nish a cause it drives rate and occupancy, but because There are a lot of innovative people property to appreciate it or are you focused it’s a profi t center. you’ll be seeing more of it, out there, but you seem to do it differently. on the next one? whether it’s celebrity chefs or another kind of Does your mind work differently and did i don’t usually get involved in the taking methodology. it has to be a strong idea with you know early on you had this ability? of the bows. but i do enjoy the appreciation great food and service, and be a great looking what i do is not an intellectual process – people give the product, which makes all the ef- place to be successful. it’s strictly instinctive. fort worthwhile to me. you try to do something Today, do you need to offer that guest the hotels that i do are the kind of hotels great because it’s a personal refl ection upon a real spa experience? i’d like to stay in. there are no focus groups or you, and when people respond, it is great.• volume 34, number 1 posted with permission. copyright © 2011 leaders magazine, inc. 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