Boat International – August 2019

hawnHausmanwasbackhomein
Californiahavingjustcompleteda
mammothprojectinNewYork’s
EastVillage–21-floorTheStandard
hotel–whenthephonerang.AndréBalazs,the
founder(andatthattimestillchairman)of
StandardHotels,wascallingtosayhe’dfoundthe
perfectspotforthesixthpropertyintheportfolio,
andthefirstoutsidetheUS.
“Wewereabouttostartthinkingofthenext
chapterwhenIgotaphotofromAndréofthe
outsideofthisbuilding,withanotesaying‘You
needtocometoLondon,’”Hausmansays.The
building–abeautiful,curvaceouslatebrutalist
concreteblockfromthe1970ssittingrightacross

S

Raising the Standard

Agroupofsuper-smart,party-centralhotelshasshakenupthe

States.Nowit’sLondon’sturntocheckin,saysLuciaFerigutti

Left:thebuilding’s

originalporthole-

stylewindowshave

beenretained

fromLondon’sStPancrasInternationalstation

• wasatthatpointstilltheCamdenTownHall
  Annexe.“Just[that]initselfwasexciting,”
  Hausmancontinues.“Wedecidedweneededto
  settleinLondontoproperlydotheproject,and
  wefigureditwouldbeanadventure,thefirsttime
  livinginEurope.”
  TheyestimatedtheirBritishstintwouldlast
  18 to 24 months.Fastforwardfiveyearsand
  Hausmanandhisteamareonlynowreadyto
  packtheirbags,asthe much-anticipated,
  266-room,eight-storeyTheStandard,London
  finallyopensitsdoorsthismonth.
  InjectingadoseofAmericancooliswhatthe
  companyhasbecomeknownforovertheyears.

The Standard, London has 266 rooms,

three restaurants and a recording studio