Retro 1999: "It’s got to be comfortable"
Doug Herrick, part-owner/operator of Seattle’s Ace Hotel, has this to say on the subject: "We’ve been pretty surprised by the press response. The media has been all over us. It’s been almost overwhelming." Although those involved in its conception realised the Ace’s potential to attract national media, within three months of its opening, news of its unique qualities had already spilled into the international press. "What has been so surprising is the public’s willingness to take on our vision," Herrick says. "It’s really gratifying to turn people on to the space and to see them enjoying it so much."
Another interesting take on the subject comes from Jennifer Rubell, a former employee of the Royalton who currently operates two hotels in Miami’s South Beach with her parents and brother. "I never thought a lot about how hotels market themselves until I started hiring people and became aware of the attitudes they brought with them. It was fascinating to me. The hotel business is not that different from industrial design, art, the film industry or even clothing design. The type of marketing we do is similar," Rubell says. "But hotels mostly believe that their interest factor lies in offering a certain set of standards for a certain price. Marketing that viewpoint is very uninnovative." Jennifer Rubell is the niece of Ian Schrager’s former hotel and Studio 54 partner, the late Steve Rubell, who is credited with creating the concept known as the "boutique hotel".
With the added media and marketing cache of the attention-grabbing catchword "designer hotel", are some hotels being designed for marketing and media purposes or, at the very least, as a mix? Those interviewed said that while their properties were not designed for such purposes, they knew of others that certainly were. According to Peter Schweitzer, "I think that some hotels definitely do this. Some people use design as a gimmick. They use it, but don’t carry it through. It doesn’t really make sense. This is what happens if you make promises to guests and have a big PR budget–you ultimately get a PR-driven hotel, which may end up reneging on its promises." Schweitzer adds, "One aspect is that you’re overselling and overemphasising the image of a hip hotel. But once you do that, you’re out of it anyway, because you can’t force yourself to be hip. For example, some people complain about arrogance and attitude at Ian Schrager Hotels, but that’s real. Take it or leave it."
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