Le Monde Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland
Why spend thousand of dollars on a trip around the world when you can visit Havana, St. Petersburg, Beijing, and Reykjavik in a single night for a fraction of the cost? At Le Monde Hotel, eighteen guest rooms, three restaurants, and a nightclub transport guests all over the globe (and even underwater, to Atlantis) with themed décor that reflects the signature styles of Tokyo, Cairo, Rio, and Marrakesh, among many other cities. Thanks to Le Monde, it’s finally possible to have dinner in Paris and wake up in Sydney.
Hotel Fox, Copenhagen, Denmark
When you’re a big-money corporation like Volkswagen and you can’t find a hip enough spot to house the journalists previewing your latest car models, what do you do? You open the Hotel Fox, of course. In 2005, just before the release of its new Fox, VW commandeered the Park Hotel in Copenhagen and enlisted twenty-one graphic designers, illustrators, and urban artists to give the place a modern face-lift. Each of the hotel’s sixty-one rooms is a visual playland unto itself, featuring custom-designed bedding, furniture, and accessories set amidst a riot of colors and shapes on the walls, floors, and ceilings. Five years later, hundreds of new car concepts have come and gone, but the Hotel Fox is still going strong.
Hotel Silken Puerta América Madrid, Spain
Walking into this futuristic establishment, you won’t be sure whether you’ve found your hotel or stumbled through a portal to another planet. The Puerta América represents the culmination of an unprecedented architecture undertaking that invited nineteen world-renowned architecture and design studios from thirteen different countries to conceptualize the look of a single building. Each artist or collective was assigned one of the hotel’s twelve floors and given free rein to determine that area’s aesthetic, from the hallways right down to the bathrooms. From otherworldly landscapes to all-white interiors, the end result is a hyperstylized, multilayered melting pot of shapes, colors, and materials.
Hotel Pelirocco, Brighton Beach, England
On the hunt for a one-stop pop-culture paradise? Look no further than the Hotel Pelirocco, where seaside relaxation means a treasure trove of kitschy memorabilia, bright colors, and rock ’n’ roll. In the Soul Supreme room, a purple-and-gold palette, in-room microphone, and record collection will take you back to the heyday of Motown, while Betty’s Boudoir, with its leopard-print bedspread and two-person spa tub, pays homage to legendary 1950s pin-up Betty Page. For even more kicks, head to the Singstar Lounge for some karaoke.
Isn’t traveling supposed to be all about seeing new things? Then why would you stay at a Marriott when you can bed down in one of these unique habitats instead? The next time you’re investigating a home away from home, do your imagination a favor and book a room at an art hotel. It’ll be the closest you ever get to sleeping in a museum.
Updated March 22, 2011
