Guide Line Review


The Art, A Hotel


Tour Leader: Marc Berggren, Guest Experience Manager - mberggren@thearthotel.com

The hotel is known variously as The Art, A Hotel; The Art Hotel; and The Art.  The hotel is the first of its kind: a luxury, boutique hotel that focuses on art.  And in this hotel, contemporary American art. The 165 rooms are priced from $199 - $399, depending on the season.  The Art can accommodate motorcoach groups.

The independent hotel is part of a mixed-use project that includes office space on the first three floors, a public gathering place with a bar and meeting rooms on the fourth floor, and guest rooms on floors five through nine. It opened June 12, 2015.  Within 54 days of its opening, The Art reached #1 on Trip Advisor.

Indeed, the art is the heart of The Art Hotel.  While the hotel’s owners could have selected other themes for the decor, their interest and involvement in the art world is what lead them to this unique concept.

The art at The Art is being curated by Dianne Vanderlip, the former longtime curator of modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum.  The artists represented are from Post-World War II Modern American Art. Except for two pieces, the art on display belongs to the hotel by way of a special limited liability corporation (LLC) set up by the hotel’s investors, and is valued at over $100 million – considerably more than the hotel itself.  Clyfford Still’s PH-351, located around the corner from the registration desk, is on loan from the private collection of one of the hotel investors.  Edward Ruscha’s Industrial Strength Sleep, located in the registration area, is on loan for eight years.

Even though the pieces will be on display for 10-15 years, displaying them in the hotel is still “a work in progress.”  Some art pieces are moved from one location to another in the hotel on occasions.  Other pieces were “built in” to the hotel as it was constructed.

Before The Art opened to the public, the artists whose work is displayed were its first guests. During their stay, the artists shared with the staff the inspiration and process that lead them to create the work.

The staff of The Art are able to assist hotel guests and visitors with the art in much the same manner as an art museum’s staff.  Everyone, from the doorman, to the barman, to the desk clerk to the manager is able to describe the pieces on display.  Unlike an art museum, guests at The Art are invited to interact with art on display by touching or getting very close to the object: including the Deborah Butterfield horse.

Each floor of guest rooms has its own featured art work, which is displayed in the Elevator lobby. Then each guest room on that floor contains commissioned prints of works from the artist.  Even the elevators have art: video art that guests can view as they move along in the elevator car.

The lot on which the hotel sits is narrow and triangular, providing quite a challenge for the designers.  The resulting floor plan provides many interestingly sized and shaped guest rooms and suites.  The designer, Guadalupe Cantu, came to Denver as a representative of Studio Daniel Libeskind to oversee construction of the Hamilton, the garage, and the Museum Residences.  The Davis Partnership Architects also worked on those projects, and Cantu was eventually hired by the Denver-based firm, where he now works and for which he designed the hotel. As a result,  The Art’s exterior draws on elements from the neighboring buildings which Cantu knows well.

The building is LEED Certified Gold – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Tours for the public are available regularly on Sundays at 11:00 am and 5:00 pm.  Special tours are available by prior arrangement.

Images and descriptions of the art displayed at the Art Hotel can be found on the hotel’s website
http://www.thearthotel.com/hotel-collection.html .

 --- Mike Pearl

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The Art, A Hotel 

WHAT:  RMGA MEMBERSHIP MEETING – The ART hotel


WHEN:  January 11, 2016, 6:30 – 7:00 networking, 7:00 – 7:15 – short business meeting, 7:15 – 8:30 history and tour of the hotel.


WHERE:  1201 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203.

PROGRAM:  Marc Berggren, Guest Experience Manager, will speak about the history of the hotel.  The tour of the hotel will include one of the suites (if one is available).