Marriott partners with boutique-hotel guru
New York-based Marriott International is partnering with Ian Schrager, inventor of the boutique-hotel concept 23 years ago, to create a new brand of as many as 100 hotels that will combine the personal, intimate, individualised and unique lodging experience that he developed and Marriott's operational expertise on a global scale.
The hotels will be located in gateway cities throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. The initial list of markets to be explored includes New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, and Las Vegas in the US; London, Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Rome in Europe; and Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo in Asia, the company said in a statement.JW Marriott Jr, chairman and CEO of Marriott International, this week called the worldwide marriage of the premier lodging company with the pioneer of the lifestyle boutique hotel an attempt by both to push the boundaries, break new ground and take the hotel industry to a new level. "These hotels will be an excellent complement to the Marriott portfolio of brands and allow us to use our global platform and ability to execute to create something completely new, different and original: the first truly global branded boutique lifestyle hotel on a large scale. We expect the brand to set the standard for decades to come." The brand, the brainchild of the new partners, responds to new cultural and social imperatives that Schrager says have emerged. This brand will reflect these changing lifestyles and cater to a vast underserved market of guests expecting, indeed demanding, a unique experience, not merely a place to sleep. With an average size of 150-200 rooms, each of the hotels will reflect the best of the cultural and social milieu of its location and time. A diverse set of world-renowned architects and designers will be recruited to create one-of-a-kind buildings spanning the complete range of project types, from new construction to conversions to dramatic renovations. The partners expect to have at least five firm development deals signed under the new brand by the end of the year and 100 hotels open or in the pipeline within a decade.
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