Before there were rooftop bars, speakeasy lounges or $26 cocktails, there was the lobby. Ian Schrager designed hotel entrances into social theaters.

He didn’t just redefine hospitality. Schrager transformed hotel lobbies from transactional pass-throughs into destinations—sexy, stylish, part fashion shows and part cocktail party.

Ah, the Royalton, designed by Philippe Starck—a blue-lit runway right in Midtown Manhattan. This was where “power lunches” were born, seating the mastheads of Condé Nast like it was just another Tuesday.

Who remembers the infamous three-legged chairs? People fell off them just trying to look cool sipping sparkling water or martinis. And who could forget the sunken lounge? It was a stage of curated chaos—champagne flowing, conversations buzzing, and Brian McNally keeping the entire scene deliciously dialed in.

That lobby wasn’t just a waiting area—it was a cultural hospitality reset.

Fast forward.

Today, we have members-only lounges, curated playlists, and invite-only dinners that blur the lines between hospitality, nightlife, and cultural cachet. Can a space signal status, spark connection, and cultivate community? It all started in the lobby.

That was the blueprint.

Now we’re building on it—with exclusivity, experience, and a new kind of storytelling.

The lobby was just the beginning.