Four of the World’s Most Phenomenal Art Hotels

Date 20 December 2019

Whether you’re lounging surrounded by artworks of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Damien Hirst in New York’s Soho district, or waking up in Cologne surrounded by Le Corbusiers, expect the unexpected at these four extraordinary properties created by art collectors.

Le Pigalle

Paris, France

It’s all about the neighborhood at Le Pigalle in Paris’s famous red-light district, an adage that readily applies to the fantastic collection of work by local artists, photographers, and illustrators that fills the hotel’s interiors. Risqué, retro-style illustrations by the Parisian artist Jean André and atmospheric, provocative nude photography by another local luminary, Pierre-Ange Carlotti, set the sultry Parisian scene.

11 Howard

New York, United States

Aby Rosen, the German-born tycoon behind 11 Howard in New York’s SoHo district, is a noted collector of modern and contemporary art, owning more than 800 postwar pieces, including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, and 100-plus Warhols.

No surprise, then, that the 213-room property, which was fully revamped by the award-winning Danish design firm Space Copenhagen of Noma fame, brims with artworks handpicked by Rosen himself, among them works by sculptor Katie Yang, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, and the Portland based artist Dan Attoe's neon installation, “We Are Just Complicated Animals”.

The Qvest

Cologne, Germany

When Michael Kaune, the editor in chief of the German design magazine The Qvest, decided to open a hotel of the same name in a neo-gothic heritage building in Cologne, it was only natural that he would fill it with mid-century design pieces and photographic works from his impressive collection. Thus visitors find themselves among furniture by Arne Jacobsen, Charles & Ray Eames, Verner Panton, Walter Gropius, and Le Corbusier, new products by Tecta, Cassina, Vita, and others, and signed works by Mark Arbeit, Todd Hido, and Peter Granser, to name only a few.

Chateau de la Resle

Montigny La Resle, Burgundy

Crowning a hill in the renowned winemaking region of Burgundy, Château de la Resle is the creation of Johan Bouman, a Dutch art collector and former food industry entrepreneur who invites guests to share the French, ivy-wrapped manor house that he painstakingly restored and filled with his personal collection of contemporary art and design. This includes custom creations by product designer Roderick Voss, specially commissioned breakfast tableware by De Intuitiefabriek, glazed ceramic beetles by German design duo RaR, and a hand-blown glass lamp based on a melting ice cube by Amsterdam-based artist Reinier Bosch.