Veteran hotelier Ian Schrager’s new venture in Manhattan takes luxury down a notch. Eva Wiseman checks in
He calls it “accessible luxury”, and this is Ian Schrager’s latest big idea. The first was Studio 54, where elitist hedonism was born behind a velvet rope. The second, which he came up with in prison, doing time for tax evasion, was the “boutique hotel”. Schrager is the man responsible for purple feature walls, for lobbies that double as local cocktail bars, for chairs that look like comfy sculptures, and for today’s luxury hotel experience, with all the exclusive glossiness that entails. But this week he opens Public in downtown Manhattan, where he’s trying out something new. Populism.
In a voice that sounds like concrete mixing, Schrager explains that this is a hotel for everybody. Despite costing less than half the price of his glitzier hotels (rooms start at $150, for bookings made before the end of August), it retains the neon glamour of its five-star neighbours, and has already attracted Studio 54-level interest, with Patti Smith performing on the opening night. “I start with the rate I want to charge, then back in from there,” he growls. “And it means breaking rules.” Walking through the lobby, with a shop that sells flowers and T-shirts and perfume, and a landscape of white sofas, it’s not immediately obvious where the money’s been saved, where the rules have been broken.
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