IIDA Perspective - Summer 2019 - 43

(far left) The Post Oak Hotel in Houston
features a Rolls Royce showroom.
(left) Home goods retailer West Elm has
launched a chain of hotels featuring its
furniture as a new way to connect with
consumers.

Shinola worked with Gachot Studios, a New York-based
design firm involved in the development of Shinola stores
in New York and Los Angeles. "We made sure we were
working with someone who truly understood the brand so
when you're walking through the hotel you get a larger sense
of who we are," Daniel Caudill, creative director of Shinola,
told Hour Detroit. The hotel is accented by high-quality
leather, wood, and custom furniture, as well as splashes of a
custom-mixed Shinola blue.
"Retail brands have such an intimate bond with their
customer's identity providing a unique opportunity to
extend their ideology beyond the confines of a retail
relationship and fully immerse their guests in that tailored
experience," says Thilenius.

New Hotel Art
When done right, coworking spaces and retail brands
can be fairly solid bets for creating this new generation
of hybrid hotels. But, some hoteliers are pushing the
boundaries on what experiences can result in the mix.
Take 21c-a hotel and contemporary art museum
wrapped up in one. The concept was launched in Louisville,
Kentucky by Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, passionate
art collectors who wanted to find a way to share their art
while revitalizing their downtown. The hotel currently has
eight locations across the United States, with three more in
the works.

"

"I think there has been a great
synergy between the two to create an
experience that's really unique, both to
hospitality and to art," says Terrence
Schroeder, a principal at Deborah
Berke Partners in New York, the firm
responsible for designing the hotels. "I
think what it's done is it's taken the
museum experience and made it
more hospitable and fun and more
of an event. And then I think it's taken the hospitality
experience and enriched that in a way that's more unique,
quirky, interesting, and engaging."
To ensure the space feels like a true hybrid-instead of
two disparate parts-the hotel's art is considered during
the design process. "It's not an add-on later," Schroeder
says. "It is really embedded in their DNA."
The art is also not limited to gallery spaces. It can occur
anywhere, from the restaurants to elevator lobby to the
restroom. "The restrooms become these destinations in
their own right, and people actually seek them out," he says.
To help keep each hotel fresh, the founders and the
chief curator coordinate temporary shows and commission
pieces from local artists. "Each property also includes a
video gallery that we designed specifically to host video
art," Schroeder says.
The concept isn't just appealing to guests. "The
founders really wanted these to be an amenity to the cities
and to the local residents," he says. "They wanted them
to be something that you would come to if you weren't a
guest, but you would come to it to enjoy it, either to the
restaurant or to the galleries or both hopefully."
According to Schroeder, hotels are fertile ground for
this experimental kind of design. "Hotels can encompass so
many different programs and uses and experiences in a way
that can create really great energy. People are drawn to it,
and I think we're seeing that trend grow," Schroeder says. "It
reflects the way that we live, work, and travel now in a way
that accommodates our needs and provides experiences that
feel more dynamic and authentic and satisfying." n

The biggest challenge for hotels is basically
providing an experience for everyone,
everywhere, all the time."
-Gail McCleese

summer 2019

perspective

43
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