This month marks the culmination of a long-held dream for celebrity hotelier Ian Schrager.
The American, who co-founded the notorious 1970s New York nightclub Studio 54 and now owns the likes of the Delano in Miami and the Mondrian in Los Angeles, has always wanted to have a hotel in London.
Now, 15 years after opening his first property in the US, Schrager is opening not just one, but two hotels in the UK capital.
St Martin’s Lane, in the heart of London’s theatre district, opened last week, and Sanderson, in Berners Street, will open in December. Both properties, according to St Martin’s Lane sales and marketing director Trevor Owen, are like nothing London has ever seen.
“The St Martin’s is about fun, colour, life, energy, youth, buzz,” he said. “Sanderson will be very sexy, for the more mature, sophisticated traveller.”
Most details of Sanderson are being kept under wraps at the moment, except that it will have a full spa and, according to the sales team ‘revolutionary bathrooms that will take hotel bathrooms to another level’.
Unusual features at St Martin’s Lane include controlled ambient lighting in each of the 204 rooms which allow guests to pick a colour according to their mood.
As each room has floor-to-ceiling glass, this will create the effect of a 1970s disco floor from the streets outside.
Each room also has a widescreen television, CD player, data-port connections and two-line telephones. There is a 24hr gym with personal trainers and, indicating its appeal to media professionals, production, wardrobe, make-up facilities, plus casting rooms.
The hotel has nine dedicated sales staff, significantly more than a hotel of its size would normally employ.
This gives a good indication of the scale of the sales drive it has planned. St Martin’s Lane has already held a pre-opening party, in June, to introduce the property to the travel trade.
Schrager is targeting the film, music and entertainment industries that are the main markets for the existing hotels. UK agents which specialise in this field, such as Travel by Appointment and The Travel Company, will already be familiar with Schrager-style properties. But the group is keen to raise its profile among the rest of the travel industry.
It plans to carry out a sales blitz using direct mail and fax blasts to tell the UK trade about the two London openings.
All the group’s hotels are represented on the global distribution systems by the code MR and also by hotel reservations and marketing group Utell International. It pays the standard 10% commission and is offering a special introductory rate at St Martin’s of £65 to agents, subject to availability, until November 7, although this date could be extended.
Clients will pay an opening rate of £125 for a standard room, £260 for a studio and £290 for a deluxe studio, all exclusive of VAT.