HOTELS

Jeff Weinstein

No Marriott Red In Sight
February 4, 2008

For me, the highlight of the 2008 Americas Lodging Industry Summit (ALIS) conference last week at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles was the evening cocktail party hosted by Marriott International—and unlikely bedfellows Bill Marriott and Ian Schrager—to introduce its new boutique brand, Edition.

The only news coming out the elegant, very un-Marriott-like event was that the company had signed agreements for the first nine Editions, with the expected opening of the first properties in 2010. While details are sketchy and I have not been able to see a single rendering, Schrager explained how no two Editions would be alike as he will use local creative service to give each hotel its own identity.

On this evening, the all-smiles, yet very reserved Schrager and the always statesman-like Marriott told the crowd of developers and the curious they truly expect to see more than 100 Editions in markets around the globe. Under the agreements, Edition hotels are now planned for Paris, Madrid, Costa Rica, Miami, Washington, Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona. Two hotels are planned for Los Angeles.  In the very brief ceremony for the evening, Schrager proclaimed, “I want to do 500.”

The party was like a Schrager lovefest with quotes by him and about him in huge bold black type on the walls of the all-white art gallery. There was Cristal champagne, Petrossian caviar, foie gras and more served by model types dressed in, of course, Schrager-style black and white. In my moment with Mr. Marriott, I told him I don’t see any “Marriott red” in the room. He gave me a wry smile and pointed to his all-red tie. I should have expected nothing less from the legend, but underneath I wondered how Mr. Marriott really felt about the hip lounge music, extravagant food and minimalist décor.

I truly believed at that moment, even if he looked a bit uncomfortable and somewhat out of place at this hipster gathering, the iconic Mr. Marriott is, indeed, comfortable with his decision to bring in Schrager to create Marriott’s answer to W, etc. In fact, while he joked that he had not been at as sexy a party as this one since he was in high school, he also candidly admitted that while he and Schrager couldn’t have come from more different sets of circumstances, their DNA is similar—extremely competitive and always in search of perfection.

Schrager was equal in his praise of Marriott, seemingly honored to be culminating his career alongside, perhaps, the biggest legend in the business.

The champagne continued to flow, the beat thumped a bit louder and in a matter of minutes Mr. Marriott was ushered out the door, undoubtedly to a location quite unlike Schrager, who I overheard talking about going to the new, hip Thompson hotel in Beverly Hills. While they may not share common backgrounds or ideas about what they consider fun, Marriott and Schrager are more likely to succeed than any recent pairing in the hotel business.

Posted by Jeff Weinstein on February 4, 2008 | Comments (0)