Veteran hotelier Ian Schrager´s new venture in Manhattan takes luxury down a notch. Eva Wiseman checks inHe 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. Continue reading...
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