10 Art Hotels Around the World

Whatever the intent, art hotels add an extra layer to tourism and travel, engaging guests by making them feel a part of the art process, and creating a memorable experience rather than just somewhere to sleep. From Argentina to Australia, here are 10 places to rest your head that promise more than cable TV and a bible in the nightstand.

Arte Luise Arthotel

Built in a historic neoclassical building from 1824, the Arte Luise believes that spending a night with art doesn’t have to be expensive. Since the late 1990s, artists have been invited to stay and transform rooms into all encompassing installations, making it feel like a museum that guests can spend the night in.

Located in the convenient French Quarter of San Francisco, Hotel des Artes lets emerging artists take full creative control over their rooms, pairing oversized, site specific murals within the comforts of a cozy hotel room. Simple, yet effective, the art becomes interactive, in the affordable, centrally located hotel.

While some hotels immerse guests into modern art installations on the walls of their rooms, the luxurious Rome Cavalieri Hotel offers guests the experience of staying on the grounds of their own private museum. The richly historic collection spans paintings, sculptures and decorative arts by Italian and international masters over the centuries, giving guests the unique experience of living with these masterworks, rather than viewing them from behind the guard ropes of a traditional museum. An in house art historian is always available for extensive tours of the hotel’s incredible collection.

The focus of this colonial building in the thriving San Telmo district is strictly street art, embracing stencil, graffiti and mural art in all their rooms and common areas. Visitors on a tight budget can bunk with other travelers in the dorms, or spend a little more for some privacy. The Art Factory isn’t just a street art paradise, but also gives back to the community by working with charity organizations in Buenos Aires.

The brain child of collectors Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson, the 21c Museum Hotel was an urban renewal project for downtown Louisville, bringing a world class museum and hotel to the area. The 21c Museum hotel is the first of its kind, to mesh the art world with the hospitality world. The museum seeps into the hotel, including an exciting installation/hotel room by Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe (famous for immersive environments like Stray Light Grey at Marlborough Gallery and Black Acid Co-op at Deitch). Lucky guests can spend the night in “Asleep in the Cyclone,” a Buckminster Fuller tribute made from recycled materials. The duo curated everything down to the blankets and linens to make for a truly immersive artwork.

The Henry Jones fuses a robust collection of 300 artworks that are exhibited on a rotating basis, with 56 uniquely designed rooms that highlight these pieces. Each room is packed with artworks by emerging and established Tasmanian artists, as well as the Studio Lounge, Art Installation Suite, restaurants and bars. Aside from living amongst the work during your stay, you can also take home your favorite piece, as all of the works are also for sale.

Each year, five artists are chosen to transform the five rooms of the boutique Au Vieux Panier in Marseille into floor to ceiling works of art. The 17 Century building is given a modern edge and vibrancy, with new designs each year, offering guests an opportunity to sleep in works of art by artists like graffiti legend Tilt, Mass Confusion, Mist, and Julien Colombier. The hotel’s commitment to an ever changing exhibition gives art fans a reason to go back each year to take on a new experience with in the rooms.

One of New York’s most beautiful hotels set on the private Gramercy Park, GPH’s opulent décor is paired with a museum quality art collection. Basquiat, Botero, Colen, Warhol, Haring and Hirst are only a few of the modern masters in the hotel’s collection, which adorn the walls of the decadent halls, as well as the Rose and Jade Bars. The hotel feels both luxurious and intimate, as if staying in a private chateau in the middle of Manhattan.

Hotel Fox, in beautiful Copenhagen, approaches the art hotel experience in the same vein as art viewing, wanting to capture the same wonder and inspiration that comes when standing before a powerful piece of art. The hotel invited young artists to create large-scale installations, that in turn become the hotel’s guest rooms. Each of the installations in the rooms at Hotel Fox are over the top, making the visitor feel a part of the piece, inspiring them to spin their own narratives while staying inside each work of art.