Travel Tips

Art Hotels: More Than Just Watercolors in the Lobby

Locations in this article:  Louisville, KY Rome, Italy Toronto, Canada

Here’s an unusual concept: sleeping inside an art gallery. A number of hotels are taking the design concept to a new level by showcasing works of art in public spaces and rooms.

At the Listel Hotel in Vancouver, entire floors are dedicated to showcasing art.

The Museum floor features items that reflect the Pacific Northwest from the Museum of Anthropology.

Rooms on the Gallery floor feature works curated by the renowned Buschlen Mowatt Gallery.

Our neighbors up north also have the Gladstone Hotel, the oldest continuously operating hotel in Toronto, where all 37 rooms were co-designed by visual artists.

We’re not talking tacky themed rooms—these rooms are works of art on their own.

In Italy, Rome Cavalieri is the site of a hugely respected private art collection—everything from a crib commissioned by Napoleon to authentic Warhols.

If you want the full museum experience, take a private tour with the on-site art historian.

And don’t forget about the 21C in Louisville, which has a 9,000-square-foot modern art museum, with rotating and permanent exhibitions.

The museum hotel also hosts monthly poetry readings and life drawing classes, so guests can tap into their own inner artist.

For more arty hotels, don’t miss Sleeping With Warhol: America’s Art Hotels.

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