Marriott names new head for Edition brand

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marriott International (MAR.N) named Tim Miller the new director for Edition, the luxury boutique-style brand whose growth has been hemmed in by the recession.

Miller has been both a consultant on Edition and chief branding officer at boutique hotel company Morgans Hotel Group Co (MHGC.O), a Marriott spokeswoman told Reuters on Monday.

He has a long-standing relationship with Ian Schrager, Marriott's partner in developing Edition.

Schrager is the hotelier and nightlife impresario widely credited with inventing the concept of the boutique hotel -- small, quirky and upscale -- when he developed the original Morgans hotel on New York City's Madison Avenue in 1984.

"Tim has a long history with Ian Schrager's hotel group," said Scott Williams, a branding consultant and former executive at both Morgans and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT.N). "He would be a great match to deliver Ian's ethos at Edition."

Marriott and Schrager said they would build and operate up to 100 hotels when they announced the creation of Edition in 2007. Two -- in Hawaii and Istanbul -- have opened so far. Five more are in development.

"They launched this with great fanfare," said FBR Capital Markets analyst Patrick Scholes. "Unfortunately, that was a bad time to be launching anything."

Miller will replace Dan Flannery, whose trajectory is the opposite of Miller's. In March, he left Marriott to join Morgans as chief operating officer.

In April, Los Angeles-based sbe Hotel Group said it had hired Josh Fluhr, who had helped oversee Editon's launch, as a vice president. (Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)