1616-23 Boutique Hotels Undergoing EVOLUTION 0
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mh BOUTIQUE HOTELS UNDERGOING EVOLUTION' 04/12/2002
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 2002, The Miami Herald
DATE: Friday, April 12, 2002 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Business PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 110 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Eric Raffy (a) , Andrea Melotti (a) .
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: By CARA BUCKLEY, cbuckley@herald.com
BOUTIQUE HOTELS UNDERGOING EVOLUTION'
On the face of it, Santiago Pozo could be any disgruntled hotel guest with
a laundry list of complaints. The room was too small, the rates too high, and
the service downright rude. "I couldn't hang my clothes, nobody helps you
with your suitcase, they're too cool to help, " Pozo, a Los Angeles-based film
producer, said of his stay at the Delano Hotel in South Beach.
A new batch of South Beach hoteliers are taking note, hoping to tap a
contingent of customers that may be dissatisfied with the chilly service and
cramped quarters that characterize South Beach's most famous - and most
successful - boutique hotels. They're also filling what they see as a niche:
affluent clients who want luxury, and elbow room, along with a boutique
hotel's visual delights.
"When Mrs. Schwartz is paying $400 to $500 a night, Mrs. Schwartz wants a
big closet to hang her clothes in and a big countertop to put her makeup, "
said Marty Taplin, owner of the newly opened Sagamore Hotel, which boasts more
than 300 modern art installations, paintings and sculptures. The hotel's
smallest room is 450 square feet.
At the Clinton Hotel on Washington Avenue, which is currently in the midst
of a $12 million overhaul, architect Eric Raffy takes pains to point out the
rooms' ample counter space. Friendly service, he said, will be stressed.
"Hotels have gone through an evolution, " Raffy said. The hotel aims to open
in July. "We' re going to be service-oriented. For guests now, that's very
important. "
Customer service never went out of style, but Ian Schrager's hotels - he
owns the Delano along with eight other boutique hotels in Los Angeles, New
York and London - have been noted for being long on attitude and short on
friendliness.
"I think the Delano is very snooty, and I think it should be, " said Chase
Burritt, a hospitality analyst with Ernst & Young. "It's the property
everybody wants to stay in, and the one all the new competitors are trying to
improve on. "
Schrager's staff denies the Delano's service is selectively meted out,
saying that the Dela-
no's popularity speaks for itself.
"It always insists on the utmost courtesy from its staff, " said Howard
Rubenstein, spokesman for Ian Schrager Hotels. "It is constantly innovating
new programs designed to enhancing its guests' stay. " Not that the Delano has
anything to worry about: it remains one of the most successful properties in
Florida, if not the United States.
The Delano's room revenues have been estimated at $300 per room, compared
to $190 at the nearby Loews, and the industry average of $57.
Compared with other South Beach hotels, experts say the Delano is
weathering the travel industry's woes better than most. This despite the 15.7
percent dip boutiques saw last year in revenues per available room, an
industry measure tracked by Smith Travel Research, and compared with the 6.9
percent dip in the industry as a whole.
"It's about market share, " said Scott Berman, a hospitality analyst with
PricewaterhouseCoopers. " [Schrager is] successful, and the Delano is
capturing its fair share. "
Schrager, who was vacationing and unavailable for an interview, is credited
for making boutique hotels, with their highly stylized furniture and art, an
obsession in the 1990s.
What sets his hotels apart is their combination of fantasy and chic, a
motif that made his previous venture, New York's storied Studio 54 nightclub,
co-run with Steve Rubell, a runaway success. Robert Mapplethorpe photographs
line hallways of his first hotel, Morgans in New York. Fifty-foot white sheer
curtains greet Delano guests. A room at the Sanderson in London features a
silver sleigh bed and a landscape painting on the ceiling.
Even though Schrager rooms were pricey and small - using Delano bathrobes
costs extra, and one guest groused about having to "stand on the bed to
unpack my suitcase" - customers lined up, and revenues per room for boutique
hotels nearly tripled the industry average in 1999. The concept was copied,
Starwood's W brand comes to mind, and boutiques gained footholds in hipster
climes: South Beach, New York's SoHo, London and L.A.
" [Schrager is] a marketing genius. He knows his clients and how to reach
them, " Berman said.
"He's a master, no question, " Taplin said.
But, Taplin said, the beach has a gap in supply for luxury hotels that make
customer service and space priorities, a paucity that has helped fill rooms at
Brickell Key's Mandarin Oriental.
"When my single friends came to beach, I put them up at the Delano, "
Taplin said. "But when some business associates from out of town came in with
their wives and families, they needed more luxury space, and accommodations
and service they're used to when they go to Beverly Hills and Paris. "
Other Beach hotels, like the Tides on Ocean Drive, tailored themselves to
high-end clients seeking spacious rooms and good service from the outset.
Before reopening the property in 1997, owner Chris Blackwell knocked down the
Tides' walls to expand rooms and trained staff to excel in the hospitality
industry's main staple: hospitality.
"We may ultimately profit less from having 45 rooms instead of 115, but
we're focused on the guest experience, comfort and service, " said Brad
Packer, spokesman for Island Outpost hotels, which include the Tides and ten
other hotels in Miami Beach and the Caribbean. "Chris wanted it to feel like
staying in the home of a good friend. "
While hotels like the Shore Club and the proposed Ritz-Carlton will vie for
the same chunk of the luxury pie, the Delano is still a hot ticket.
" [The Delano] was first and has first mover advantage. It sets the
standard, " Burritt said.
But Taplin says he already has evidence that the Sagamore is nipping at the
Delano's heels: Rapper/producer P. Diddy stays there.
I told his group I was a little nervous that maybe I did it too
upscale, " recalled Taplin, whose hotel could easily pass for a museum of
modern art. ''They said, 'Man, this hotel is in a zone of its own. ' "
CAPTION: CHUCK FADELY/HERALD STAFF GAME PLAN: Architect Eric Raffy is
overseeing the Clinton Hotel's renovation. "We're going to be
service-oriented. For guests now, that's important. "
TAG: 0204130115