Room with a View

The  Creative Class is seeking authentic experiences wherever they go, and communities are seeking their energy and dollars. One result:  the art hotel.  According to the Washington Post, they're big in Europe and growing fast in the States.  While not an entirely new concept, it does offer some great inspiration to CVB's, art councils, downtown associations and hoteliers looking for ways to support their local artists and promote authentic opportunities for cultural tourism.

Excerpts from the full story after the jump...

The Post also lists five of their favorite art hotels (which are pretty affordable), check 'em out if you're looking for a summer getaway. Let us know what you think!

Posted by Amanda.

The lighting accentuates the bold mixed-media works of art hanging on walls of exposed brick. Except for the plasma television and four-poster bed with Egyptian cotton sheets, my room at the Lancaster Arts Hotel could easily pass for a downtown New York gallery.

Opened a few months ago, the 63-room hotel tucked away on a side street in Lancaster, Pa., is the latest in a new wave of art hotels: properties that combine accommodations with art displays. Like most of this breed, the Lancaster Arts Hotel has its own gallery and promotes an eclectic mix of local artists. The art adds not only aesthetic appeal but also a vibrant element that encourages guest interaction....

.....At the Hotel des Arts in San Francisco, for instance, the developers took a run-down boardinghouse and gave a motley mix of artists an unrestricted mission to make over the guest rooms. The result has the feel of a high-energy gallery that offers overnight accommodations.....

.....The art-lodging partnership has also been a boon to artists. Two years after it was renovated and reopened as an art hotel, Toronto's Gladstone has become a popular venue for Canadian artists seeking to promote themselves. With their profiles duly raised, many of the artists whose works are on exhibit in the Max in Seattle have been invited to exhibit in major galleries.

"Some of them were little-known but doing amazing work," said Tessa Papas, curator of the 300 photos and paintings at the Max. "Part of our goal was to give them exposure."

Comments

[Michael]

I think the "art hotel" movement is one of of the most exciting things about tourism these days. If you can at least enjoy your hotel then you're off to a good start. I think there is a number of San Francisco Hotels that fall into this growing trend. And sites like www.reservediscountrooms.com and even hotels.com continue to offer discount reservations, making it good for everybody.

[DJM]

Very cool story and super smart strategy by the hotel management/ownership. Talk about a way to differentiate yourself that is not easily copied. Just need to make sure that the management has decent knowledge/taste in art