Marketing Review — Fall 2008 - (Page 24)

credits companies that are big on style and design but also appeal to the mainstream like Apple, Target, H&M, Sony, and the Spanish company Zara, that he believes truly embraces individuality and change by switching out merchandise every few weeks. The unorthodox Gramercy Park Hotel With that in mind, for his first venture of private label hotels he went in a different aesthetic direction to create a new genre of hotel. In reinventing the 82-year-old landmark Gramercy Park Hotel, he is in unchartered territory, ushering in a new era of individualism where personal expression, authenticity, and substance are paramount. In an extraordinary collaboration with artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, this one-of-a-kind, eclectic, quirky, and bohemian-inspired hotel is a real departure for Schrager, who admits it’s not even his aesthetic. Akin to an artist’s studio or home, 24 ultra personal and cozy, it presents a completely new and unexpected model for an Ian Schrager hotel. The Gramercy Park Hotel is his most “personal, unorthodox and wildly eccentric property yet.” “I wanted to make a departure from the three-and-a-half to four-star category. It was the perfect opportunity for a brand new idea that no one in the segment was doing.” Sensing a paradigm shift in that nothing can be ‘hip’ or ‘underground’ anymore because everything is out there instantly and goes mainstream, he says the only way to distinguish yourself is to pursue a completely personal vision that can’t be defined, breaks the rules, and stands alone. “The Gramercy Park Hotel is the ultimate anti-brand and anti-design hotel. It is a celebration of the idiosyncratic.” In a dramatic turn of events for the hotel trendsetter, it is the “uncool” place to be. He also admits this new direction, which is more complex and difficult to categorize, is harder to copy and can be dangerous for those who try. In the lobby, 20th century masterpieces by contemporary artists such as Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Julian Schnabel, many on loan, will rotate periodically. Guests have exclusive access to legendary Gramercy Park and the private Roof Club signals an evolution of lobby life as a new kind of gathering place. The hotel’s restaurant, Park Chinois, heralds the American debut of Europe’s only Michelin-starred Chinese chef, Alan Yau, and in a complete aboutface for Schrager, the Rose Bar and Jade Bar are under the radar screen, low-key meeting places. And in yet another reversal from his past efforts, the original 500 rooms were lavishly reconfigured to hold just 185—a real switch from his tiny yet trendy rooms of hotels past. Promising unprecedented and indulgent service, The Gramercy Park sets new standards that the old hotel model simply could not provide, such as personal assistants for each guest. With a customer base HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • FALL 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review — Fall 2008

Marketing Review – Fall 2008 Contents The Online Marketer Success Stories Forecasting Trends Ian Schrager: The Revolutionary Man Leaving No Stone Unturned: The Quest for Ancillary Revenue Gaga Gadgets for Execs on the Go: Functional New Portable Technology to Make Life and Work on the Road More Hospitable Effectively Weathering the Ups and Downs of the Economic Cycle Experiments in Podcasting Higher Transportation Costs and a Slowing Economy Shift Hotel Room Demand

Marketing Review — Fall 2008

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