Hospitality Design - December 2018 - 38

perspectives interview

The lobby in the Philippe Starck-designed Mondrian Park
Avenue in New York features a tree trunk seating area

he was falling in love with hotels, becoming
a key investor in more than 15 properties,
including the Viceroy brand. "As an investor,
it's interesting to see all the different moving
parts from development to acquisition to fees. At
the time, boutique hotels were just starting, the
word 'boutique' was just being used, and it was
a different perspective for me. So when I started
sbe, the idea was to do all these verticals under
one roof, and to do it for ourselves."
A "disciple" of Schrager and designer
Philippe Starck-frequenting the Hudson,
Delano, and Mondrian-he brought in Starck
to design Katsuya, and then the SLS in Beverly
Hills in 2008, a redo of a Le Méridien. "I wanted
him to do the luxury perspective of what he had
done [with Schrager] because he never had the
budgets that we'd given him, at least in the U.S.,"
explains Nazarian, who ultimately signed Starck
to a 15-year exclusive agreement for North
America (it ends in 2021).
"There was a level of appreciation for him,"
he continues, adding that he never thought
Starck would work with him. "I knew every one
of his places intimately, everybody did. He sees
things in a manner that's the fourth dimension. I
was attracted to his point of view, and the stories
of his hotels. We have 85 restaurants, and I can't
cook you an egg. So I knew I had to work with
the best people, and with him, it was instant
credibility. He opened up his world to me; one
person can change your life."

Brand Identity

The entrance to Redbury New York by Matthew Rolston is lined
with photos depicting moments in New York history

because they feel they may not get the attention
[they want from] a 650,000-room hotel company.
They can tie in with us, and we'll give them an
F&B solution and something that differentiates
them. Plus, they get the global benefits of Accor."

Starck Contrast

After finding success in telecommunications and
multifamily housing, Nazarian launched sbe in

038

December 2018 hospitalitydesign.com

2002 in LA, first with nightclubs (Shelter being
the first in Hollywood) and then restaurants,
starting with Asian concept Katsuya, all
sought-after destinations for Hollywood's
A-List. Nazarian was innovative from the getgo: Knowing how fickle nightclubs were (he
was a promoter at China Club while at NYU),
he would flip the concept every eight or so
months to keep the idea fresh. At the same time,

Nazarian created SLS to fill "the big gap
between St. Regis and W for luxury lifestyle," he
says. It stands for service, luxury, and style, "the
three things I could never find [in one hotel]"
without sacrificing one of them.
His solution: create a fully-integrated food
and drink experience "in a manner where
it's not just about the chef, but it's about the
space," he says. "Back then it was Jean-Georges
[Vongerichten], [Alain] Ducasse, and [Joël]
Robuchon, and it was about the kitchen and the
chef and how many stars." Instead, he brought
in chef José Andrés, who, at the time, was
making a name for himself with his inventive
Spanish tapas in Washington, DC. "It was about
understanding what was important to the user,"
he says. "Coming from the nightclub world, you
always think to yourself, 'It's Friday at midnight,
and I have three hours to make money, how is
the next person or celebrity going to get in?' It's
an urgency that most people don't have. There
was a flow that made customers feel like it was
something they'd never seen before."
In that first hotel, the piazza-like Bazaar
restaurant was made up of a series of rooms
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