How Big Hotel Groups Adopted Boutique Concepts

Today’s guest is Ian Schrager, the legendary hotelier, entrepreneur, and cultural pioneer who reshaped nightlife and hospitality as we know it.

Ian first made his mark in the 1970s as the co-founder of Studio 54, the iconic New York nightclub that became a symbol of glamour, freedom, and cultural revolution. Alongside his partner Steve Rubell, Ian created an experience that transcended nightlife, merging design, celebrity, and theatricality into something entirely new.

After Studio 54, Ian continued to reinvent hospitality. In the 1980s, he launched the Morgans Hotel Group, introducing the world’s first “boutique hotel” : a concept that blended art, design, and service in a way that changed the industry forever. At a time when hotels were seen purely as places to sleep, Ian reimagined them as vibrant social hubs, activating lobbies, bars, and restaurants as dynamic public spaces that reflected and contributed to the cultural life of a city. With properties like Morgans, the Royalton, and the Delano, he transformed the hotel from a travel necessity into a cornerstone of the modern urban landscape: a place where design, community, and experience converged.

In more recent years, Ian has continued to redefine hospitality with two visionary brands. EDITION Hotels, created in partnership with Marriott International, brings his boutique sensibility to a global stage. With around 22 properties worldwide, from New York and Miami Beach to London, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Dubai, each EDITION is designed as a one-of-a-kind reflection of its city, combining understated luxury, cutting-edge design, and activated social spaces that feel both intimate and electric.

By contrast, PUBLIC represents Ian’s evolution of the idea: “luxury for all.” Its flagship on New York’s Lower East Side, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, reimagines the hotel experience through high style, technology, and inclusivity, featuring self check-in, vibrant communal areas, and nightlife-driven energy at a democratic price point. With plans to expand to West Hollywood and beyond, PUBLIC distills Schrager’s decades of innovation into an accessible, modern model for the next generation of travelers.

Across every chapter of his career, Ian Schrager has consistently challenged convention, blurring the lines between hospitality, art, and lifestyle, and influencing generations of hoteliers, designers, and creatives along the way.

In this episode, Ian reflects on his incredible journey, from Studio 54 to the present, and shares the insights, risks, and instincts that have defined his enduring legacy.

A heartfelt thank you to Peoplevine for sponsoring The Stanza podcast this year (and for supporting The Stanza since the beginning). If you run a members club or a hotel that needs a CRM for top performance, Peoplevine is trusted by the best brands in the members club business. Book a free demo to see why at ⁠peoplevine.com.⁠

Interview Highlights:

• How Ian Schrager brought the lessons of Studio 54 into hospitality

• Turning hotel lobbies into social and cultural spaces

• The $60,000 deal that led to his first hotel, Morgans

• What “boutique hotel” really meant in its original form

• Ian’s perspective on copycats

• How creativity and independence can survive inside big hotel brands

• Redefining luxury as an experience, not a price point

• Ian’s advice for young hoteliers

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