Morgans Hotel Group was a global hospitality company acquired by SBE Entertainment Group in 2016. The company, founded by Ian Schrager, is credited with inventing the Boutique Hotel concept in 1984 when it opened Morgans Hotel in New York. MHG owned or partially owned and managed thirteen hotels in London, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, New York and San Francisco comprising over 3,000 rooms. Among the hotel brands belonging to the Morgans Hotel Group were Delano, Mondrian, Hudson, Shore Club, Royalton, and A Morgans Original. Each of its hotels was designed by a world−renowned designer, including: Andree Putnam, Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz. In May 2016, SBE Entertainment Group agreed to acquire Morgans Hotel Group. The combined company would own or operate over 20 hotels, including properties under SBE's flagship SLS brand. The transaction was completed on November 30, 2016. Morgans Hotel Group had been a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ exchange until the SBE acquisition. Sam Nazarian, sbe’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, retained majority ownership of sbe, and remained its Founder & CEO, leading all day-to-day operations. Ron Burkle rolled his existing equity stake in Morgans into an ownership stake in sbe. In addition, sbe received an investment from Cain Hoy Enterprises, a global real estate investment company headed by Todd Boehly and Jonathan Goldstein. Jonathan Goldstein and Ron Burkle joined Sam Nazarian on sbe’s board of directors.
History
The company is generally credited with inventing the Boutique Hotel in 1984 when it opened Morgans Hotel in New York. In the 1980s, Ian Schrager and his business partner Rubell turned their attention to hotels. Their first hotel, Morgans, opened in 1984 and was an instant hit, introducing the boutique lifestyle hotel to the world. Following the success of Morgans, they opened the well received and highly successful Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, both of them designed by Philippe Starck. With these properties, Schrager introduced "lobby socializing" whereby the hotel lobby became a new kind of gathering place for hotel guests and New York City residents alike and "cheap chic," where affordable luxury was offered in a stylish and sophisticated environment. Schrager is also credited with inventing the "Urban Resort" with his Delano Hotel in Miami and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, also designed by Starck. These were followed by the Hudson Hotel in New York, where he fully realized his concept "hotel as lifestyle" which he continued to refine, expanding to cities such as San Francisco with the Clift Hotel and London with St. Martins Lane Hotel and the Sanderson Hotel, all three designed by the prolific Philippe Starck. The Delano Las Vegas opened in 2014 as a rebranding of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay, in partnership with MGM Resorts International. In 2012 it was announced that Morgans would be overhauling Sea Containers House in London to be launched as a Mondrian Hotel in 2014. The design of the hotel was awarded to the Tom Dixon led Design Research Studio. The hotel, Mondrian London At Sea Containers, opened on 30 September 2014. In the spring and summer of 2013, Morgans became the bone of contention in a proxy war between OTK Associates, an investment vehicle for the Olshan and Taubman real estate interests, and Yucaipa, the investment alter ego of Ron Burkle. In 2014, Morgans Hotel Group opened its first hotel in Turkey on 18 November which is located in an historical building, Eski Balıklı Han. 10 Karaköy A Morgans Original is located in Karaköy, city’s cultural and historical center. The architectural work of the historical Büyük Balıklı Han has been undertaken by award-winning architect Sinan Kafadar – METEKS Group which used to be a hospital in 19th century. Tuğba Doğan and Evren Basık has been assigned as the art consultants of the hotel. In November 2016, SBE Entertainment Group agreed to acquire MHG. The transaction was completed on November 30, 2016. Morgans Hotel Group had been a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ exchange after Shrager’s departure and until the SBE acquisition.
