Interview: Ian Schrager on the Next Generation of Boutique Hotels

Ian Schrager is elated and justifiably so. Just the night before, on June 6, the man often credited with being the pioneer of the boutique hotels movement in the U.S. opened his latest hotel: the 370-room Public in New York City's Lower East Side neighborhood, complete with nearly 1,500 revelers and featuring a performance from Patti Smith. "This morning was magical for me," Schrager said. "It's like all hell breaks loose, and the next morning you're anticipating all this damage, but nope, everything is perfect." Indeed, from the looks of it, there are hardly any signs of the opening party from the night before throughout the hotel, which was still bustling with activity on a sunny afternoon. The Public New York, located on Chrystie Street, was four years in the making, and it marks the first hotel Schrager has opened on his own since he opened the first Public Hotel in Chicago, back in 2011. That hotel, which Schrager and his investment partner, Morgan Stanley, sold for