New Edition Hotels Planned Across Three Continents

Marriott International has announced five new hotels for Edition, a luxury lifestyle hotel brand created in partnership with Ian Schrager. The company said that the brand is on track to have six hotels operating in major global gateway cities on three continents by 2015, including one of Manhattan's iconic Clock Tower. New Edition hotels also include projects under construction in Bangkok and Abu Dhabi, as well as contracts signed for hotels in Los Angeles and Gurgaon, India.

The New York Edition will be located at the landmark Clock Tower building at 5 Madison Avenue, which was acquired for $165 million from prior owner Africa Israel USA. While design work is already underway, the renovation and conversion of the iconic Clock Tower building will begin in late 2012.

The Bangkok Edition will be part of a mixed-use development planned for one of the tallest buildings in Bangkok. The Abu Dhabi Edition will be part of the Al Bateen Harbor complex within the Abu Dhabi Marina, an upscale mixed-use development including luxury residential and retail.

The London Edition will open next year in the historic building formerly known as the Berners Hotel, located in the city's Fitzrovia neighborhood. The Miami Beach Edition, under construction in the former Seville Hotel, is expected to open in late 2013.

The Istanbul Edition is open and operating under a long-term management agreement. Last fall, the brand's first property, the Waikiki Edition, was taken over by Aqua Hotels in a midnight coup. The case is still in courts, and may not be sorted out for some time.