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Give this much to Ian Schrager, the owner of trend-setting hotels such as the Sanderson in London and the Royalton in New York - he knows how to make a big noise in the media on behalf of his properties. But nowadays, there is a new buzz about his business and it is hardly a glamorous one. He is on the financial ropes.
The word on Mr Schrager has for years been about excitement and celebrity. Who was there to help launch his other London hotel, St Martins Lane, back in 1999? Jade Jagger and Kate Moss, no less. Which rock star attended the opening of the Sanderson, near Oxford Circus, the following year? Madonna.
With the designer Philippe Starck exclusively tied to his group, Mr Schrager has been recognised as the pioneer of the anti-chain style of hotel. Call them boutique hotels, if you like. Nothing is standard, not the Daliesque sofas in his lobbies nor the public bathrooms in black stone and steel. The doormen are from central casting. A door-handle at the Royalton begs to be considered a work of art.
Yet recent disclosures reveal that while the facade is...