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Executive Traveler | July/August 2006
Artful Escapes
Meet and retreat in style at art-centric lodgings.
Fine hotels afford the opportunities to unwind in style while enjoying sumptuous amenities and breathtaking views. For the traveling executive, luxury hotels offer meeting spaces, conference rooms and high-tech electronics to help one's business run smoothly when away from the office. An intriguing addition to luxe lodging, however, is décor drenched in artistic splendor. Art and antiques connoisseurs, as well as novice appreciators alike, revel in an ever-expanding class of accommodations that offers both top-of-the-line business facilities and an aesthetically fresh environment.
Chambers is located in the heart of New York's Fifth Avenue retail district, in close proximity to the Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. The 77-room hotel's chic design showcases more than 500 pieces from emerging international artists. Works are drawn from nearby galleries and museums, and the hotel's theme of art, and the creative process is the underlying concept behind the furnishings and finishes. Commissioned artists decorated each floor of Chambers' corridors: German artist Katharina Grosse applied neon colors with a spray gun to the walls of the third floor, while Nina Bovasso, recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, explored her "Freeway" series with looping forms and animated objects on the sixth floor. Guest rooms evoke the atmosphere of an artist's loft with such characteristics as exposed concrete slabs, a sawhorse desk and works of art dressing the walls. Tibetan, Turkish and leather rugs drape the walnut floors, subtly accenting the rooms' natural color scheme. The provocative marriage of eclectic furnishings and site-specific art offers the distinct feeling of being in the home of a private collector or artist.
Details
Chambers
15 West 56th Street
New York, NY 10019
866.204.5656
chambershotel.com
Business & Meetings: Boardroom seating for 15; high-speed Internet and wireless available.
In a town long recognized as an idyllic colony for artists, the seaside community of Laguna Beach is home to Montage Resort & Spa. About an hour's drive south of Los Angeles, the resort boasts architecture in the style of the Arts & Crafts movement. Rare Craftsman furnishings and plein-air canvases depicting West coast scenes are displayed throughout the resort. The resorts collection includes significant works by William Morris, the father of the Arts & Crafts movement, as well as vintage photographs of California architecture. A California Regionalist painter and the first president of the California Art Club, William Wendt's "Laguna Coastline" hangs in Montage's lobby. Also on display are "Pacific Tide, Laguna," painted by Edgar Payne, co-founder of Laguna Beach School of Arts, and "Laguna Sea" by Jean Mannheim. "The artwork throughout Montage Resort & Spa captures the eclectic artistic development in California during the first part of the 20th century," says Julie Cline, noted art consultant and principal of Julie Cline Fine Art Services.
Details
Montage Resort & Spa
30801 South Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
866.271.6953
montagelagunabeach.com
Business & Meetings: more than 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space including a 7,500 square-foot ballroom (divisible by three), 3,200 square-foot junior ballroom (divisible by two), and three additional meeting rooms; full-service audio-visual department.
Much like entering its nearby neighbor the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, guests of the Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston are enveloped in art as soon as they pass through the front doors. The Cambridge-based hotel is filled with unique, contemporary pieces, and guest rooms are adorned with art that explores 20th-century America. The New England Suite displays two untitled pieces of oil on board by Bill Ciccariello, a series of watercolors by Carl Palazzolo, an untitled watercolor work by Katherine Porter and two untitled works of charcoal on paper by Chuck Holtzman. Andy Warhol's "Campbell's Soup Paper Dress" and Jasper Johns' "Feet" are showcased in the Artist Suite. Other luminaries such as Alan Saret, Jim Dine, Tom Wesselman, Eve Sonneman and Stephen Mueller are featured throughout the suite. Guests may embark on a self-guided tour of the hotel's art collection and learn about the artists and movements by using the hotel's handheld PDA. Art dealer and collector Joan Sonnabend has curated and maintained Sonesta Boston's 600-piece collection since the 1960s. Company-wide, Royal Sonesta boasts more than 7,000 contemporary works.
Details
Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston
5 Cambridge Parkway
Cambridge, MA 02142
617.806.4200
royalsonestaboston.com
Business & Meetings: personal meeting manager; conference center featuring 20,000 square feet of function space (including 16 meeting rooms), accommodating groups of up to 600 people; state-of-the-art meeting technology, including wireless high-speed Internet access.
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, located near Charleston, South Carolina-a city so enamored with antiques, it actually has a own week dedicated to collectible treasures-is a sweeping golf and spa resort that beckons travelers with its antebellum appeal. Sweetgrass basketry and works by local artists embody the region's rich Southern heritage. The Sanctuary commissioned Karen Larson Turner, a Charlestonian, to create 30-foot-high "Marsh Murals." In the Morning Room, a decorative George III brass-mounted mahogany bracket clock complements "Katy," an 1864 oil-on-canvas by George Washington Conarroe. Horace Robbins Burdick's "Boy in a Kilt" was most likely painted around the turn of the century because of the ebonized giltwood chair that appears in the painting (this furniture style was popular during the American Aesthetic movement). Mary Anne Mitchell's commissioned collection of Kiawah Island photography graces the guestroom corridor. Mitchell's images of nature, wildlife and architecture speak to the purity and unspoiled beauty of the Lowcountry.
Details
The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island
One Sanctuary Beach Drive
Kiawah Island, SC 29455
877.683.1234
thesanctuary.com
Business & Meetings: more than 18,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, including 10 meeting rooms, three boardrooms and two hospitality rooms; conference concierge and event planners on site; fully equipped business center; audio-visual equipment and services; video-conferencing services.
 In a city where spirit and culture continue to prevail, the Windsor Court Hotel is a proud survivor of Hurricane Katrina. The hotel boasts an exceptional collection of art by such renowned artists as Sur Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Jacob Huysman, Sir Anthony Van Dyck and Nicholas de Largilliere. The hotel's original owner, James Coleman, Jr., sought British-based works depicting daily life at the royal court at Windsor Castle. Since then, Windsor has continued to develop its collection. In addition to paintings and lithographs, the hotel also has an interest in sculpture, such as the courtyard statue "St. George and the Dragon" by John Mills. Local artists are celebrated as well: Auseklis Ozols, founder and director of the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, was commissioned to paint two murals that are the focal points of The New Orleans Grill, located on the second floor of the Windsor Court. Both murals capture a different New Orleans scene, one a tranquil plantation countryside and the other, Jackson Square and the bustling French Market. The hotel's art curator guides groups of guests on tours of the $8 million collection each Saturday afternoon.
Details
Windsor Court Hotel
300 Gravier Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
888.596.0955
windsorcourthotel.com
Business & Meetings: business suites with in-room printer, fax machine and phone lines that can be configured to receive calls direct from an outside line or cell phone; business center featuring state-of-the-art computer technology, high-speed Internet access, office equipment, office supplies, and packaging and shipping services; variety of meeting and function spaces.
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