Marriott buys London hotel for first EU ‘boutique’ venue

By Lorraine Heller

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Marriott international Hotel

Marriott will spend up to 24 months refurbishing the Berners Hotel
Marriott will spend up to 24 months refurbishing the Berners Hotel
Marriott International has purchased the historic Berners Hotel in London, which it plans to redevelop over the next two years into a boutique Edition brand hotel

The venue, located on Berners Street in London’s Fitzrovia, has been closed since 2006 and went into administration in August this year.

The new owners plan to redesign and redevelop it into an Edition hotel, in collaboration with the hotel developer Ian Schrager, who is known for his individualized boutique style.

"Authentic and original" feel

Marriott first teamed up with Schrager in 2007 to create a new boutique brand of hotels with up to 100 hotels around the world.  The move was designed to help Marriott enter a new, “modern” genre of hotels, which aimed to be the first global branded boutique lifestyle hotel on a large scale.

“We are delighted to acquire Berners. It is a perfect property for an Edition hotel in London.  With its great location, beautiful façade, the building is a perfect canvass for creating a true work of art,” said Arne Sorenson, president and chief operating officer, Marriott International.

Schrager said he was planning to create “an authentic and original” experience in the historic building.

The hotel will be renovated over the next 18 – 24 months.  In line with its business strategy, Marriott plans to ultimately sell the hotel to third party owners, but maintain management of it under a long-term agreement.

Global concept

Earlier this year, Marriott also acquired the Seville Hotel in Miami Beach to redesign and redevelop into an Edition hotel. The group said it expects to open the brand’s second property, The Istanbul Edition, in the first half of 2011.

Further Edition hotels are planned for “gateway cities” throughout North America, Europe and Asia.  Other locations on the group’s radar include Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan and Rome in Europe; New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, Boston, and Las Vegas in the U.S.; and Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul and Tokyo in Asia.

On the launch of the collaboration in June 2007, Schrager said: “Together Marriott and I have a new vision and plan to radically rethink and catapult the lifestyle boutique hotel into the present by capturing the spirit of the times.

“People today are sophisticated and they understand good design, quality, originality and commitment to excellence. They will not accept something derivative and they want the ethos and soul of a hotel to be authentic and have character.  They also expect and deserve impeccable, modern and gracious personalized service that is at the same time luxurious yet down to earth.

“It is the ultimate balancing act of these apparent contradictions to create a hotel that is simultaneously specific and customized yet universal. We intend to make this type of lodging widely accessible and available for the first time in the key lodging destinations across the globe and to everybody around the world who wants it.”

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