Radical Luxury

Ian Schrager’s new Public hotel brand is redefining high-end hospitality for a budget audience.

- Diana Budds

“Luxury is a state of mind: It’s how [something] makes you feel,” says Ian Schrager, the nightlife impresario turned hotelier, who is frequently credited (often by himself) for inventing the boutique hotel. His latest property, Public, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, has all the trappings of a high-end hotel, from the minimalist, light-filled architecture of the Pritzker Prize– winning firm Herzog & de Meuron to the restaurants from celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. But the price of a guest room? Starting at about $200 a night.

Hotel brands have been trying—and failing—to hit the sweet spot of “affordable luxury” for the past decade, especially in cities like New York, where the average room went for more than $250 a night last year, according to travel consultancy STR. Most brands end up either scrimping on public spaces or settling for decor that looks like it was assembled using Allen keys.

The 367-room Public, which Schrager developed after launching his high-end Edition brand with Marriott in 2008, mines some of the best ideas from the tech, retail, and design industries to create a more streamlined model for hospitality.