NEW YORK -- Responding to frequent requests from hotel guests for an Internet presence, Ian Schrager is launching the website IanSchragerHotels.com this summer, on August 5th, with the expected attention to design and total functionality.

Purposefully avoiding the hype surrounding the initial avalanche of new media offerings, Schrager has waited to see which elements of site design and function users responded to most. Taking a streamlined, extraordinarily user-friendly approach, IanSchragerHotels.com is a fresh, convenient option for even the most tech-phobic. With an ease of execution and performance for all web functions--from making reservations to checking out trends and happenings, IanSchragerHotels.com is a definitive guide to the Schrager global offerings.

Besides offering the most comprehensive collection of information about all Schrager hotels and the parent company itself, the new site allows for real-time reservations and immediate confirmation at any Schrager property. Unlike other hotels or accommodation reservation functions available on general travel sites, the Ian Schrager Hotels booking engine is a specialized, efficient option for time-pressed guests who demand the best.

In keeping with Schrager properties' reputation, the reservation portion of the site, created by TabletBookings, offers paths for customization, allowing guests to establish an unlimited number of pre-saved billing and preference profiles. Floor plans for each property and room, including layouts for penthouses, sky terraces, bars and conference facilities, allow guests or outside participants to plan parties, meetings and special events. These plans give site visitors a sense of immersion in both guest rooms and the Schrager hotels' spectacular public spaces. The site is also a convenient gateway for making reservations at Schrager restaurants. With the new site, Ian Schrager Hotels, often noted for a certain air of inaccessibility, attain a new openness and accessible convenience.

With the launch of IanSchragerHotels.com, a web-only rate will be offered to those who book directly through the site, with guarantees that no better rates will be available on other travel sites. Visitors who register as friends or frequent guests will also, if they choose, be notified via email of future announcements, exclusive offers and packages. Not only will web rates themselves be competitive, but value-added extras will be abundant on the site--with everything from customized Schrager Screensavers to links, special promotions and affiliate programs with select and carefully edited design, fashion, entertainment, travel and general interest sites that complement the Schrager sensibility. Like a successful magazine come to life, the IanSchragerHotels.com site offers up the real world but better--the new thing at guests' fingertips.

A comprehensive online guide known as "The List," detailing local hotspots, restaurants, clubs, conveniences, happenings, shopping and arts near each Schrager hotel, will be updated frequently with contributions from tastemakers, the hip cognoscenti and Schrager collaborators. These updates will change seasonally and will incorporate the swirl of activity at Schrager hotels during events for the Hollywood, fashion, sports and arts communities. Popular online culture vulture will scoop 'what's happening' in each Schrager city, offering additional insiders' perspectives and news tidbits.

The inimitable urban energy unique to each Schrager property is reflected on IanSchragerHotels.com. Schrager hotels, often host to a city's highest-profile events such as movie premieres, fashion/beauty launches, awards shows, celebrity birthdays and post-concert bashes, will allow those who didn't make the guest list a unique chance to sneak a peek with post-event snapshots and candids of superstars at play scanned, fittingly, in the 'Play' section.

The 'Shop' section of IanSchragerHotels.com will offer both guests and site users a convenient way to purchase favorite Schrager lifestyle items--from the famed comfy terry-cloth bathrobes or luxe cashmere blankets to logo tees and Agua spa products. Special design products from Philippe Starck will also be available.

In keeping with Schrager hotels' emphasis on hosting top-notch, edgy and provocative displays of talent, the new site will showcase short films and animated clips, debuting works by gifted, visionary young filmmakers and graphic artists selected through an open submission process. Digital art exhibits will invite participation from a strong, continually evolving stable of established and emerging artists. Even the home pages for the Schrager site are an audiovisual smorgasbord, with multiple variations for each time users log on. The panoply of imagery, sound, animation, film and sheer visual stimulation will be both a treat for site visitors and a unique venue for artists' experimentation.

With input from a superstar creative team that only Ian Schrager could assemble, IanSchragerHotels.com has incorporated designs from: Fabien Baron, founder of noted international graphic, design and advertising agency Baron & Baron; leading web designer and production company RGA; frequent collaborator Philippe Starck; and Michael Davis, former creative director of the innovative new media firm Razorfish.

The site gives a true sense of what the Schrager world embodies--with its elements of design, function, fun, convenience and innovation--is as dramatic, inspired and superbly surprising as the hotels it showcases.

The Ian Schrager Hotels are unique and cutting-edge properties which pioneered and popularized the worldwide phenomenon of "boutique hotels." Ian Schrager further pushed boundaries of convention by creating the concept of "lobby socializing" where the hotel lobby serves as a key social gathering place. He also debuted one-of-a-kind "urban resorts," which serve as oases set in the heart of chaotic, pulsating, non-stop cities. His ground-breaking concepts have set new standards for the entire hotel industry that continue to be imitated throughout the world.

Ian Schrager Hotels owns and operates Hudson, Paramount, Morgans and Royalton in New York; Delano in Miami; Mondrian in Los Angeles; Clift in San Francisco; and St Martins Lane and Sanderson in London. The company is currently in the process of developing the Miramar in Santa Barbara, as well as a number of other properties. Ian Schrager will continue to focus on developing unique properties in international gateway cities around the world, including the U.S., Europe, South America and Asia.

Holly Taylor
212/843-9220
Morgans