1675-7 Delano 140, 33 Terms
mh HOTEL CHIC 06/25/1995
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1995, The Miami Herald
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1K LENGTH: 121 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Ian Schrager with the Delano hotel in the
background (a) , inside the Delano room (a) ; photo: air freshner
in Delano hotel room (a) , bathroom at the Delano hotel (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: ANNE MONCREIFF ARRARTE Herald Business Writer
HOTEL CHIC
FAMOUS EVEN BEFORE IT OPENS
THE DELANO BRINGS IAN SCHRAGER'S
STUDIO 54 MYSTIQUE TO SOUTH BEACH
Miami Beach's renovated Delano Hotel may be the most famous hotel that
hasn't had a guest.
The New York Times wrote about the project last year. This month, Vanity
Fair devoted a six-page color spread to the hotel.
Next week, the place finally opens for business.
The advance publicity buzz should come as no surprise. The Delano is
owned by Ian Schrager, one of New York's leading arbiters of hip.
Since he founded Studio 54, Manhattan's trendy 1970s disco where
potential patrons lingered outside hoping to be invited in, Schrager has been
setting style for the stylish.
Today, Schrager owns three Manhattan boutique hotels that vary in price
and cater to Schrager's core clientele: the cool, the rich and the famous.
Now he's bringing his cache to South Beach with the Delano, a small
beachfront estate-style resort that Schrager calls "a theme park that's not
cartoon characters, but sophistication and sophisticated people."
The idea, as Schrager explains it, is to re-create the past grandeur of
the Delano -- a 238-room hotel he visited as a child -- but do it with a '90s
feel. Rooms are decorated in white, furniture is eclectic, children are
welcome.
"People never lose the desire to be part of what's going on -- that's
what we sell," said Schrager, 48, who recently married and had his first
child. "I want this hotel to be glamorous, but easy."
To that end, Schrager has cast his employees a la A Chorus Line,
personally selecting attractive, eager kids who "want to be involved in what's
going on."
He has staged his hotel design like "a three-act play," dark lobby,
breezy outdoor porch and glistening beach and pool.
And, he has brought some of New York's most chic names south.
The hotel redesign is by celebrated French designer Philippe Starck.
David Barton, who owns Manhattan's trendiest workout spot, is opening the
Delano's David Barton Gym. Brian McNally and partner Madonna, who own 44, a
New York restaurant in Schrager's Royalton Hotel, will run the hotel's Blue
Door restaurant.
And Rita Norona Schrager, Schrager's Cuban-born, Miami-bred wife, has
designed the Delano's spa, Aqua, with friends Kelly Klein and Leila Fazel.
Average room rates will be $150 a night, a pricey standard for most Miami
Beach hotels. But Schrager prides himself on offering a range of rates. Delano
accommodations start at $100 and rise to $450 a night for one of eight
r
Hollywood-style bungalows.
"I think of this like I do organizing a party. You want an interesting
mix of people, not guests that are too homogeneous, " Schrager said. "It's a
vertical market that makes it fun. I learned in the nightclub business that
it's irrelevant what people make and where they live, it's something else
they have in common that's interesting. It's ball gowns dancing next to blue
jeans. "
If Schrager can re-create his ball gown/blue jean mystique in a white
linen market, analysts say, the Delano will bring Miami a new wave of upscale
New Yorkers, appeal to the luxury international market and create a hip oasis
for locals.
"Ian Schrager has a very distinctive position in the hotel industry and
he is the kind of guy who can go after the high- end, artistic market, " said
Chase Burritt, managing director of hospitality services group for Ernst &
Young Kenneth Leventhal in Coral Gables. "He appeals to the crowd that are
trend-setters. And there's a lot of interest among that group in a high-end,
full-service destination hotel here."
Still, to keep his hotel at his goal of 67 percent occupancy, Schrager
also will have to draw some meeting and small convention business.
"We're not talking Fontainebleau-style conventions here, " Burritt said.
"We're talking Emilio Estefan getting his people together for a corporate
meeting."
For that kind of business, neighboring South Beach doesn't offer much.
Though the hotels are notoriously hip, they also are very small and can't
cater to travelers looking for a touch of luxury. None offers full-service
amenities, said Scott Berman, director of hospitality for the Miami office of
Coopers & Lybrand.
Schrager agrees.
"I make a distinction between myself and Ocean Drive
because I worry about its trendiness," Schrager said. "Sure, it is a magnet
like Versace, Sylvester Stallone and Madonna are magnets, but you don't invest
this kind of money in a fad. "
Schrager paid $4 million for the Delano three years ago and has invested
$22 million in the renovation.
The Delano is Schrager's first property outside New York. He bought the
Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles last year. It is slated to open next February.
"I am interested in international gateway cities, " Schrager said. "I
think there is a real circuit between New York, Miami and Los Angeles."
Schrager also is interested in expansion. He is convinced the consumer
trend toward shorter vacations will continue, and he is eager to create a
small hotel chain of some 15 properties that can tap the highest end of that
market.
"I want to get as big as I can and still be an entertainment business."
Schrager said he would like to work around a spoke-and- wheel theory,
clustering hotels in adjacent markets under regional management. He is looking
at San Francisco and Seattle to compliment his Los Angeles hotel; Washington,
D.C., to tie into New York; as well as Houston, Atlanta and New Orleans. In
Europe, London, Paris, Milan, Belgium and Dusseldorf, all fashion industry
cities, are under consideration.
As for South Florida, if the Delano takes off, Schrager
plans to expand to Palm Beach, the Keys and maybe Naples, he said.
"The Delano will be a very good test to see if Schrager can bring his
panache to South Beach and transfer his New York business here," said Burritt.
"If he can, Palm Beach and Key West would be great options. "
Meanwhile, Schrager said, he will continue doing what he does best.
"I sell magic," Schrager explains. "Not sleep."
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