Tag: Hot Hotelier News

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Hotelier of The Year: The Public Antics of Ian Schrager

December 30, 2011 at 2:30 PM | by | Comment (1)

It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.

Incredibly, in the history of HotelChatter Awards*, we have never given the Hotelier of the Year Award to Ian Schrager. But he's finally earned the honor in 2011 and that's all thanks to his well-executed vision for Public Hotels.

Sure, this year wasn't entirely perfect for Ian, thanks to a pesky lawsuit from the owners of the Waikiki Edition, now the Modern Honolulu, who claimed that Schrager has essentially bailed on the development in order to focus on Public. (You can read his official statement on the "frivolous" lawsuit here.)

He also gave up control of the Gramercy Park Hotel late last year which was pretty shocking, given how much fanfare went into the hotel's opening, the parade of celebrity guests who spent the night and how could we forget, the discriminating door policy for the Rose Bar.

But not only did we like what Public turned out to be, we liked how Ian took this new hotel brand public, if you will.

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Hotelier Avi Brosh Returns with Palihotel Melrose Avenue, Opening in February

Where: 7950 Melrose Avenue [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90046
November 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

Three years after opening his stylish extended-stay hotel, Palihouse Holloway in West Hollywood, and over a year after ceding his vision for Palihouse Hollywood to Sam Nazarian's SBE empire, Los Angeles hotelier Avi Brosh is once again back on top with the Palihotel on Melrose Avenue opening in February 2012.

The 32-room boutique hotel is envisioned as a "European neighborhood inn" which is quite the opposite of the Palihouse Holloway, specifically regarding the size of the guestrooms. Where Palihouse rooms start at 600-sq.ft., the rooms at Palihotel will measure about 250-sq.ft. and come in Twin or Queen categories.

And while rooms at Palihouse have little kitchenettes, guests at the Palihotel will instead head down to the Palikitchen, a coffee shop/cafe that will service breakfast, lunch and dinner in a self-service format.

Of course, the trade-off is that rooms at the Palihotel will be crazy affordable, starting at $150 a night.

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The Grosvenor Used to Have an Ice Rink (and Other Tidbits From Hotelier Stuart Bowery)

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 90 Park Lane, London, United Kingdom, W1K 7TN
October 5, 2011 at 3:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

His name aside, hotelier Stuart Bowery has absolutely nothing to do with the eponymous New York hotel. Bowery resides across the pond in London, where he manages the comparably luxe Grosvenor property. Bowery recently received profile treatment from Air & Business Travel News, where he had some interesting things to say about the local hotel scene in the wake of London's disastrous riots and in the lead up to next year's Olympic Games.

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Andre and Chelsea Again...Handler, Not The Hotel

September 30, 2011 at 11:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

UPDATE, 10.11.11: While DNAInfo.com quoted Balazs as saying that they aren't going to turn the Cooper Square into another Standard, we are hearing the exact opposite now: The Cooper Square will be a Standard Hotel. We're furiously chasing down more leads and we promise more detes to come.

So hottie hotelier Andre Balazs had the good sense to pass on scooping up the Chelsea Hotel but there's one Chelsea he's still holding onto--our fave Jersery girl, Chelsea Handler.

The twosome were spotted in Beverly Hills this week doing the usual schmoopie thing but looking mighty good doing it.

Meanwhile, back in New York it looks like Balazs' plans for taking over the Cooper Square Hotel are going swimmingly. DNAInfo.com has a detailed report from a community liquor license meeting and it seems like most of the residents are pleased with his takeover, provided that he doesn't turn the space into another Standard.

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Well, At Least Lindsay Lohan Can Always Get a Free Room at a Dream Hotel

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 46 W 17th St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10011
September 21, 2011 at 10:38 AM | by | Comments (0)

Ladies, dating the club promoter for the hottest club in town is sooo last decade. The new dating up trend is now hoteliers, or so Lindsay Lohan thinks.

We've long suspected that Lohan has been using dating the Dream Downtown's hotelier, Vikram Chatwal, but now it looks like The Superficial has the proof.

The gossip site posted a series of photos of Lohan and Vik inside Vik's apartment in Soho doing whatever it is two people like Lohan and Vik do. Apparently, these shots were taken before Lohan's disastrous attempt to get into some Fashion Week parties at the Dream Hotel.

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What Lindsay Lohan and Vikram Chatwal Have in Common

April 7, 2011 at 11:34 AM | by | Comment (1)

It's an unlikely pairing--that of Lindsay Lohan and "hotelier" Vikram Chatwal but it turns out they have more in common than we thought--they have both given up on their careers.

It's been nearly four years since Lohan was arrested for her DUIs and she has yet to find redemption in the eyes of the American public and the legal system. Meanwhile, it's been nearly four years since Vikram hit his "finest hour" as a hotelier. After that, it seems he has largely been letting his father, Sant Singh, run the Vikram Chatwal Hotels business which includes the Dream and the Night Hotels brand (now in partnership with Wyndham.)

So maybe it was only a matter of time before these two met up.

We thought we spied Vik in one of these pics of Lohan out on the town in New York. Plus when we heard Linz was staying at a hotel in midtown we wondered whether it was the Dream. But as it turns out Vik put her up in the new luxe Chatwal Hotel. Page Six reports:

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For the Record, Ian Schrager Did Not Buy the Hotel Chelsea

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 222 W 23rd St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10011
April 6, 2011 at 10:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Today it came out that there is finally a buyer for the troubled "bohemian outpost" that is The Hotel Chelsea which has been on the market for the past few months and which has been looked at by several big names in the hotel industry, including Ian Schrager and Andre Balazs.

However, the person who is set to buy the hotel for a little over $80 million is remaining anonymous. Boo. Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone!

But we do know that the buyer is not Ian Schrager. How do we know that? Because he's sent us this official statement:

“Contrary to speculation and printed reports, I am not bidding on the Hotel Chelsea. I toured the property many months ago and decided not to bid, but I wish good luck to whomever wins.”

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Hotelier Keith Menin Wishes He Could Invite Frank Sinatra Over for a Drink

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 1801 Collins Ave [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33139
March 16, 2011 at 12:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

We've already told you about the grand 'rebirth' plans underway for Miami Beach's Shelborne Hotel (topless sundeck anyone?), but what's the concept behind all the work?

To dish on all things Shelborne, we turned to someone who's been around the hotel since he was a kid--Keith Menin, whose Menin Hotels company owns the Shelborne. At 15, he was a bell hop there, working for his uncle, owner Russel Galbut.

Menin's bio, it should also be noted, mentions that he was named the Best Dressed Hotelier by The Miami Herald.

Here's what he had to say about style in the hospitality sense.

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Andre Balazs Finally Picks a Blonde We Like: Chelsea Handler

March 7, 2011 at 9:31 AM | by | Comments (12)

It's been a while since we've commented on the love life of hottie hotelier Andre Balazs. Forgive us for this lapse but the last time we did so, we received death threats on Twitter from a certain lady. (True story!)

But now, Andre is canoodling (because really, cuddling is entirely beneath a jet-setting hotelier like Andre) with a blonde we like--Chelsea Handler. So maybe all that talk about the Chelsea and Andre Balazs was referring not to the Hotel Chelsea but this Chelsea?

Never the matter, here are some reasons why we approve of this match. Chelsea, host of The Chelsea Handler Show on E!, is rather funny ('cept when she's hosting the MTV Music Awards), she's from the hottest state in the U.S. right now--New Jersey (give a fist pump for the Livingston Mall)--and she likes rap music (and rappers as she last dated 50 Cent.)

She's also not totally batshit crazy and has so far not posted nude photos of herself on Twitter. Well done, Andre!

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Why Do Ian Schrager and Andre Balazs Want The Hotel Chelsea?

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 222 W 23rd St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10011
January 14, 2011 at 10:52 AM | by | Comments (0)

It looks like Andre Balazs has a bit of an obsession with the spooky Bohemian outpost The Hotel Chelsea. Reports had him yet again visiting the for-sale property last week. But he's not the only one.

Now today The NY Post reports that Ian Schrager was also spotted touring the hotel again after having previously passed on it a few months ago. But we have to ask, Why?

We get that the hotel has an amazing history, especially with the art and music crowd, but it is a troubled property with vociferous tenants who are still determined to bring back the hotel's longtime manager, Stanley Bard, even though he was ousted two years ago.

Why would Schrager or Balazs want to even deal with this? Especially if they have ambitious plans for turning it into a "modern boutique hotel" (Schrager) or "Chateau Marmont East" (Balazs.)

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Maybe Now the SLS South Beach Will Finally Get Going

January 12, 2011 at 8:46 AM | by | Comments (0)

Just a week after we wrote about the dismal renovation progress at the SLS South Beach comes news that Sam Nazarian's SBE company has landed a major new partner with deep pockets, Colony Capital.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Colony bought a minority stake for about $35 million and will assume two seats on the SBE board. SBE includes Nazarian's nightlife and restaurant operations as well as hotels like the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles and The Redbury in Hollywood.

Nazarian told the WSJ that Colony wil be SBE's "go-to partner going forward for individual equity needs by asset." So we're guessing that work on the SLS South Beach can really ramp up now. But the Sahara in Las Vegas may not be so lucky.

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Hotelier of the Year: Nick Jones of Soho House Hotels

December 31, 2010 at 12:46 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2010 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.

In looking at our hot hotelier coverage from the past year, just three names consistently come up--Andre Balazs, Ian Schrager and Steve Wynn, who is really a casino mogul than a hotelier.

Where have all the hoteliers gone? Have bigger hotel brands finally pushed out the hip, cool, trendsetting, modelizing, jetsetting hotelier? That's what it seems like.

Just looking at six new hotels that are opening/have opened in NYC recently, four of them are from larger hotel brands (namely Starwood.) And in the coming years, both Hyatt Hotels and Hotel Indigo plan on saturating Manhattan with their brand.

With our usual staple of hoteliers just kicking back and relaxing (see below), we were hard pressed to find someone actively expanding his or her hotel collection. Then we remembered:

The Soho House Hotels, the members-only clubs with hotel rooms attached for both members and non-members alike.

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