Up on the Roof: Ian Schrager Shows Bill Marriott His Rooftop Ways

August 9, 2007 at 12:08 PM | by barbarab | 0 Comments

Bill Marriott gushed anew over Ian Schrager in this blog post yesterday. The two announced in June that they'd formed a joint venture to develop boutique hotels around the world. Suffice it to say, the odd pairing has gotten as much attention as the actual possibility that if this marriage flies, it could produce some interesting offspring.

Two items of interest in the post. One, Bill Marriott, or whoever is responsible for his blog, should know that Gramercy contains one "m," not two. The post is about Bill's reaction to the Gramercy Park Hotel's rooftop venues. We feel a little school marmish pointing that out, but if the devil isn't in the details in the hospitality industry, where is it?

Two, the depth of Bill's confession that he could not envision what Ian Schrager was planning for the rooftop. When Schrager showed Marriott the not-yet completed rooftop, Bill writes, "I had no idea. I could not envision in my own mind any concept of what he was planning and thinking about." Bill certainly is one left-side-of-the-brain hotelier.

What Bill blogged about the Gramercy Park's finished rooftop after the jump.

In Bill's own words:

When I showed up there for the press conference, I was blown away. He has really created a Garden of Eden in downtown New York. The rooftop is covered with flowers, blooms, trees and plants, and there are several places to eat, to dine, to celebrate, to have parties, to have functions, to have a drink, to meet friends, or just to kind of sit around and chat. It's a tremendous venue and it was so creative.
One of the things that impressed me the most was he took these old, clear light bulbs that we used to use back in the '20s, and he's got them all hanging from the ceiling in one room. There must be 500 to 1,000 of these things hanging up in the ceiling and the whole ceiling is aglow with glitter and excitement. This is truly a great venue and it has really, again, convinced me of how great it's going to be to be developing hotels with the godfather of all boutique hotels, Ian Schrager.

We're a little fuzzy on the "when" of this. No matter. We're just glad to see the marriage remains on track.

Related Stories:
· More thoughts on Schrager's and Marriott's unholy union [HotelChatter]
· Gramercy Park Hotel's Rooftop Club Opens Fight at the Rose Bar [HotelChatter]

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