Gone are the days when travelers took comfort in matchy-matchy, cookie-cutter hotel designs. With the proliferation of art hotels all over the world, guests are being treated to one-of-a-kind accommodations where they can rest their weary heads and expand their minds at the same time. From San Francisco’s funky Hotel des Arts to Madrid’s ultrasleek Hotel Puerta América, these anything-goes establishments are truly sites for sore eyes.
Hotel des Arts, San Francisco, USA
One of the world’s pioneering art hotels, this institution was once a dingy Victorian boardinghouse, but local entrepreneur John Doffing, founder of the arts organization START SOMA, set out to rescue it from obscurity in 2004 by inviting cutting-edge artists from all over the world to treat it as a blank canvas. They gradually covered nearly all of the building’s fifty-one rooms in graffiti, figurative murals, abstract shapes, and even political propaganda. The beautifully organized chaos that resulted has made the Hotel des Arts a favorite destination for visitors seeking an authentic San Francisco experience.
New Majestic Hotel, Singapore
This luxury hotel in Singapore’s Chinatown was built in 1928 but received a complete makeover in 2003, when it reopened as a “heritage chic” boutique hotel and subsequently won an Architectural Heritage Award for its efforts. The New Majestic is known for its eclectic collection of vintage furniture from the 1920s to the 1960s; these pieces fill the hotel’s thirty guest rooms, conceived by some of the biggest names in Singapore’s art, fashion, and film industries. Though no two chambers are alike, they share impeccable detail decorating and a flair for the dramatic, showcasing such adornments as freestanding bathtubs, hardwood floors juxtaposed with glass walls, and oversize mirrors. And for a touch of nature amid the urban landscape, some rooms even come with private gardens.
Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, Ontario
Built in 1889, the Gladstone is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Toronto, but it’s anything but stodgy. Each of its thirty-seven rooms was customized by a different Toronto-based visual artist, interior designer, or architect. Working in drastically disparate styles but making guests’ comfort their top priority, these innovators transformed a classic Victorian structure into a livable museum. The Zeidler family, which owns the hotel, is deeply committed to local business development and bills itself as “an architectural backdrop for creative passions to play out,” encouraging adventurers, business travelers, and neighborhood patrons alike to share in its enthusiasm for creative expression of all kinds, from artwork by local artists to musical performances to film screenings.
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