Hotels • September 2017
Hotels with cultural hotspots
Cape Town’s new modern art museum opens on 22 September with a sculptural design hotel on its top levels – but it’s far from the first to layer on the culture. For an arty city break, says Lucy Thackray, commissioning editor at The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, make one of these your base
Hotel Urban, Madrid
Not only is this five-star design hotel walking distance from Madrid’s grand Prado and Reina Sofia art museums, it has its own quirky one, dedicated to all things Papua New Guinea. As well as its carved chiefs and hand-hewn jewellery, there are priceless Indian, Chinese and African trinkets displayed throughout the hotel.
The culture tip: Book a junior suite or suite room category, and you’ll have curious artworks right inside your room.
Bellagio, Las Vegas
Las Vegas may not be the most soulful of arts cities, but it certainly has the dollars to procure some high-stakes exhibits. As well as a sumptuous hotel, casino, Michelin-starred restaurants and those fountains, the legendary Bellagio complex has its own Gallery of Fine Art, with visiting exhibitions from the likes of Picasso, Warhol and Lichtenstein.
The culture tip: This month, catch a little of Vegas’s fighting spirit at an exhibition on the life of Muhammad Ali (until 30 September 2017).
Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria
At first glance you might just be in Vegas, but this sweeping, marble-clad palace hotel, all gleaming urns and gold leaf, is the real Italian deal. A little way outside the city centre, Rome Cavalieri has the largest private art collection of any hotel in Europe, with treasures ranging from Nureyev’s ballet costumes to Napoleon’s furniture.
The culture tip: To get the story behind each, follow the hotel’s free podcast download or go on a tour with its expert art curator.
The Silo, Cape Town
The light-filled Silo opened in the distinctive grain silo building on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront back in spring. But it’s boosted this month by the opening of the long-awaited Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, in the same venue. The museum showcases thought-provoking, emotive work from Africa and its diaspora.
The culture tip: Hotel guests receive a free ticket, plus their own private entrance to the museum and its rooftop sculpture garden.
Es Saadi, Marrakech
Morocco’s most popular city has a rich and romantic art history, best explored at luxurious palace hotel Es Saadi. It’s set in eight hectares of lush gardens, and you may recognise its cavernous, art-filled lobby from scenes in the BBC’s The Night Manager. In total, the hotel houses 400 pieces of extraordinary Moroccan art, both historical and contemporary, from kaleidoscopic mosaics to erotic, textured paintings.
The culture tip: Don’t miss the recently opened library, a cosy space filled with French-Arabic works where you can settle in and read with a mint tea, or attend book signings.
Faena Hotel Miami Beach
Miami’s flashiest new hotel has the arts scene in its blood – it was co-designed in 2015 by the king of movie imagination, director Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby), and backed by Argentinian art mogul Alan Faena. Conceived as a ‘living art installation’, this fantasy white-and-scarlet resort is home to a muralled ‘Cathedral’ lobby, plus a gilded mammoth skeleton and unicorn sculpture by Damien Hirst.
The culture tip: Don’t miss the chandelier by Italian artist Alberto Garutti in the Los Fuegos restaurant – it flashes each time lightning hits the pampas lowlands in Argentina.
This article has been tagged Destination, Hotels