Few people have their fingers on the pulse of modern luxury to the same extent as Ian Schrager, the legendary American hotelier behind the EDITION and PUBLIC brands.

Schrager, who co-founded Studio 54, the New York City nightclub known for its wild star-studded parties in the 1970s and early 80s, says the whole notion of luxury has changed.

Today, luxury is “not about wearing a big brand on your sweater”, Schrager said. “It’s really about being involved in a unique experience and one that makes you feel really good about yourself and really comfortable. I think that’s totally different than what my parents thought luxury was.”

He says his newest hotel, the New York EDITION in Times Square, isn’t about design.

“It’s about how it makes somebody feel when they’re in here,” he said. “That they feel good, that they’ve been treated respectfully and with courtesy … You actually feel comfortable and warm being here. That, to me, is true luxury.”

That’s not to say that luxury hotels shouldn’t pay attention to aesthetics.

“The fact that it looks good makes a good hotel great, but it doesn’t make a great hotel,” Schrager said. “What makes a great hotel is great service.”

Not too long ago, the most luxurious hotel rooms might have been spacious suites with gold walls and ornate furniture.  

Today, many hotels are going for “lean luxury”, as Business Insider’s Lina Batarags previously reported. These hotels, designed with clean lines and minimalist décor that looks good on Instagram, are meant to be “far more functional and user experience oriented than a standard grand hotel room”, Quartzy’s Rosie Spinks wrote.

This evolving view of luxury extends well beyond the hotel business. Another industry cashing in on the idea of making yourself feel good as the ultimate luxury is the booming wellness business.

“Wellness is increasingly regarded as a modern embodiment of luxury, and accordingly, an array of spas and studios offering treatments like cryofacials, weeklong retreats, and vitamin IV drips are delivering those experiences,” Batarags wrote for Business Insider.

Then there is the restaurant world, where diners are less interested in the stuffiness and “fancy trappings” of traditional fine dining and more attracted to informality, fun, and authenticity, as Business Insider’s Hillary Hoffower reported.

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