Luxury Hotelier - June 2008 - (Page 6)

6| Inform Schrager calls for innovation at Spa Summit C alling spas “a parallel industry to hotels,” Ian Schrager, the man generally credited with creating the boutique hotel, told delegates at the Global Spa Summit in New York they should look to innovation to ensure that spas continue to grow and prosper. Mr. Schrager, who is in a partnership with Marriott to create a chain of boutique hotels under the name Edition, said that a spa is “now essential to a luxury hotel.” But he recalled when he began developing hotels 25 years ago, “that luxury meant guest services and execution. Nobody talked about innovation.” He credited his success to a willingness to do something no one had seen before. “We were not afraid of failure,” Mr. Schrager said. “We realized that luxury was not about the color of the rug or the design of the room but about an attitude and an approach. We saw a need to encapsulate something that was going on in the culture. “Spas have been antiseptic and perfunctory in their approach. We need to take spas to the next level. In the future, I see a social aspect. We need to leverage how good people feel after a treatment.” The best way to do that is to make the spa feel social and exclusive. “Make your spa more like a club, like a country club in the city,” Mr. Schrager said. “The person who can put that kind of thing together will take the industry by storm. You’re appealing to a sensibility, not a demographic. When Walt Disney came along, there were lots of animators doing the same thing—but he brought the magic.” Spas also should be distinctive from one another. “I had friends who switched from one spa to another because the first did not offer liquor; every spa should be different because their audiences will be different. I remember when young people would flock to the old Russian bathhouse on the Lower MKPR Top, Pete Ellis, Susie Ellis and Ian Schrager at the Global Spa Sumit in New York. Left, Mr. Schrager calls for attendees to draw on ideas from other industries. East Side of New York because it was a social scene,” Mr. Schrager said. Mr. Schrager advised delegates to draw their ideas from other industries. “I wouldn’t look to other spas for inspiration—I would look to other industries and other countries,” he said. He was sure to remind delegates it is always possible to work with available resources. “When we opened Morgans, our first hotel, we had rooms that were less than 200 square feet after you took away the bathroom and entry,” Mr. Schrager said. “So we used small, low furniture inspired by industrial design. “We never had the best location for our hotels. When we opened the Mondrian in Los Angeles, they were getting $100 a night because it was not a good neighborhood. But it’s not what you spend on the hotel, it’s the originality. If anything translates across borders, it’s style. There is an international commonality when it comes to style. “ He said style was central to his mission when he tackled his most recent project, the Gramercy Park Hotel, which he renovated with artist Julian Schnabel. “We thought that in an era of branding there was too much similarity,” Mr. Schrager said. “This hotel is for adults. It’s quirky. We have a column wrapped in packaging that had been used to wrap grapefruit and our ceiling is reclaimed from Europe. We spent half the amount of the average luxury hotel on room furnishings.” Mr. Schrager concluded by saying he does not put his faith in customer research. “You can ask customers what they think all you want, but they can only tell you what they know. You won’t get a breakthrough from them.” » BY HARVEY CHIPKIN Luxury Hotelier | June 2008 | www.LuxuryHotelier.com http://www.LuxuryHotelier.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Luxury Hotelier - June 2008

Luxury Hotelier - June 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Inform Journal Network Personalities Insight: Smith Travel Research/The Bench Properties Insight: Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne Inspire Deliver Protocols Insight: HotelWorld Innovate Development Indulge Advertisers Index Editorial Index Source Listing Dossier

Luxury Hotelier - June 2008

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