The Hotel Art Trend: Why High-End Hotels are Investing in Daring Artwork
Hotels all around the world are now turning to the newest trend in their establishments: displaying bold and unique pieces of art in their establishments. In the past, hotel art has been about letting them seamlessly blend with the background, as another piece in the puzzle, but more hotels have started investing into art that grabs attention and stands out from its surroundings.
Gone are the days when art was about it being an ornamental piece for hotels – it has now become a fundamental element that adds to the experience of every client during their stay. As James Pomeranc, a co-owner of the Thompson LES, said, “The art is a part of the identity of the hotel, and is integrated into the architecture, design, concept, and what we ethereally call the vibe, the intellectual soul of the hotel.”
Photograph by Gabriel Ghnassia
What can hotel art do for both the clientele and the business?
The common idea that most people come to, in terms of the presence of artwork in hotels, is to beautify the place, to add to a client’s experience. And this isn’t wrong – after all, the service industry (where the hospitality sphere is a big part of) must wholly deliver for the customers’ satisfaction as part of its core mission. Everything – from the visual imagery to the actual service – must be delivered.
Pieces of art help them embrace a foreign journey, the culture that the hotel is immersed in. Hotels nowadays have stepped up from being just buildings with rooms and beds for their clientele to rest at outside of their homes, and art helps that evolution. For clients who have very little to no time to take in the sights of the new place or enjoy the cultural and artistic benefits of going to a museum, an art-filled hotel is their best alternative.
And they can appreciate the artwork itself without the necessary pretentiousness that comes with museums and art galleries. There are outside environments that require them to put forth an intellectually-elite image. They appreciate the art simply because it is “art”, not because of its location in the map.
But clients aren’t the only ones that can take advantage of this. Art becomes part of a hotel’s identity. When hotels have daring, remarkable, or unique artworks, it stays in the mind of the clientele and becomes a sort-of trademark. If a customer remembers art from a hotel, it can become a piece of conversation between them and others, which paves way for the essential word-of-mouth marketing.
Even employees benefit from hotel art, as it creates a workplace that deviates from the boring, professional atmosphere. It helps manifest the hotel’s values, image, and history without going into droning words. It sets up an atmosphere that appeals to the visual senses of those who are there to see it every day to those who infrequently come to the hotel.
Daring artwork is an investment that leads to better results
The more daring or standout the hotel art, the more people remember their stay. The more people remember it, the more the hotel is talked about. Art that begs the interest, the mental deliberation of the guests, helps them think more deeply of the experience they had within the establishment. “You feel part of an experience without maybe knowing exactly why”, as Glenn Schaeffer, the co-founder, president and chief executive of Fontainebleau Resorts, puts it.
Hotels that put into spotlight truly daring artworks that have a powerful impact on its clientele can become a destination to visit when others are looking for artwork that belongs in the same category. Take, for example, The Bellagio in Las Vegas. Those who proclaim themselves as great fans of the Cubist artist Pablo Picasso would pay to see his paintings in the hotel’s “The Picasso” restaurant – which means more revenue for such an investment.
Raffles’ Le Royal Monceau in Paris has customers that come to the hotel solely for the art, as well as news about latest exhibitions and art events that they may (and most certainly are) interested in. Daring artwork becomes a reason to go to a hotel, especially for art enthusiasts. In a way, it is enjoying an art gallery without having to stand in line for it, and with additional services within the same cost.
Relatively-unknown artists that agree to put forth remarkable paintings and pieces of art for high-end hotels also benefit from this – the more people see their work, the more they are intrigued and come to view more of their creations. As the hotel benefits from this in financial, marketing and identity-based ways, so does the artist. It creates a mutual relationship between the two of them.
Hotel art now isn’t restricted to being another prop for the background – not anymore. It creates as much identity with a hotel as the actual service or accommodations do, and serves more than just a beautifier for the establishment. It translates value and atmosphere without using words, and becomes an integral part of a customer’s experience that they are bound to remember for a good long time. High-end hotels invest in daring artwork for all these reasons – and are more successful when they do.
This article was originally published at Millennial Magazine.
