Great hotels have always featured beautiful art on the walls, but more and more hotels are now being designed to feature valuable and original art collections. Many are also featuring artists in residence programmes, that give new artists a space and platform from which to emerge.

We started to notice this trend in 2008, when we completed Ham Yard Hotel, a design-led development centred around the display of a significant art collection. Since then we’ve also worked with Sexy Fish, a restaurant featuring high value artwork from Damien Hirst and Frank Gehry. Having worked in both hotels and museums for over 20 years, Greenway Associates are well placed to understand how the complex and specialist elements that come with an art collection, can impact cost and programme.

With more people than ever seeking staycations over vacations, we can really see this trend taking off in the UK. And although many hotels are still waiting to reopen post Covid-19, here are some of our favourite UK Hotels with gallery-worthy collections.

THE FIFE ARMS
Braemar, Scottish Highlands

This luxury hotel features some of the most gallery-worthy art you can set your eyes on as a paying hotel guest. Set in the village of Braemar, a few miles from Balmoral Castle, The Fife Arms is a former 19th century hunting lodge. The hotel is owned by the co-founders of the Hauser & Wirth gallery, and its art is worth the journey.

A world-class collection, spanning from the 19th century to present day, pops up at every turn, from the hallways to the forty-six guest rooms. Notable works include a sketch by H.M Queen Victoria herself, a photo from the Elsa collection by Man Ray, an oil canvas by Lucian Freud, and of course, a Picasso. The hotel also features new commissions from leading international artists, including a large scale spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois (pictured above).

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ARTISTS RESIDENCE
5 locations

By their own account, the Artists Residence are an eccentric bunch of fun and friendly places to eat, drink & sleep. But it’s their story that won us over. It all started in 2008 when co-founder Justin dropped out of uni to help improve the family B&B on Brighton seafront with very little budget. He sent out an ad for artists to decorate rooms in return for board. Hundreds of artists soon descended on the place decorating the walls, floors and ceilings. Joined by then girlfriend (now wife) Charlie, the pair set about making the concept and hotel a successful business. With locations in Brighton, London, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Bristol, we really love the easy-going and accessible approach to original art that this couple have built into their hotel stays.

Owner Justin says, “I think the biggest thing we learnt about what art means to us as a business is how art makes you feel. The world today is a hectic and challenging environment. All you need to do is turn on the news. We think art should bring a smile whether it’s through humour, colour or simply drifts you away from your day to day life. Today we’re so lucky to have built up an amazing collection of artworks at the hotels that we feel tick this box of making you happy.”

We particularly loved this artwork from Bristol artist Annie Clay, that will be featured in the soon to open Bristol Artist Residence, a 23 bedroom hotel developed from a former boot factory. We can’t wait to stay!

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HAM YARD HOTEL
London

Ham Yard Hotel is one of Firmdale’s hotels that feature the kind of art collection that makes you think, reflect and appreciate beauty. It’s also a project that we are proud to have worked on from concept to completion. True to owner-designer Kit Kemp’s eclectic style, she manages to display high-value pieces alongside tribal crafts, curios and works from emerging artists, side by side. Guests can enjoy a Firmdale Art Walk here, which gently guides one through an informative discovery of each piece in the hotel.

*“Ploughing On The South Coast” - Lucy Kemp-Welch*

This impressive work from the early 1900’s is hung on the largest wall in the Library Room at Ham Yard. It pictures how women took over many agricultural roles in the outbreak of WW1, which would have given Kemp-Welch the opportunity to observe horses from life. Interestingly, Kemp-Welch was also famous for the first illustration on the 1915 cover of Black Beauty, written by Anna Sewell. The theme of women at work is subtly interwoven throughout the Library space.

Other notable works include “As Time Goes By” - the largest and most ambitious works ever completed by Sir Howard Hodgkin. The scale of these works is an impressive, physical undertaking for an artist in a wheelchair, who completed the works in the latter years of his life.

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HAYMARKET HOTEL
London

The Haymarket Hotel is another one of Firmdale’s hotels that feature an impressive art collection. Set but a stone’s throw from the National Gallery, it’s not hard to see why it has a strong focus on art! Guests can also enjoy a Firmdale Art Walk here.

Owner and designer Kit Kemp says “I sometimes wish that a gallery were more like a room, and they would commission furniture pieces like sofas and coffee tables to show with the art, so that you could see how it all works together. That’s where I’ve been so lucky with my artists—that their art is seen within a working space.“

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As the post-pandemic world finds new ways to extend hospitality to paying guests, we can see this trend of part hotel, part art-collection making sense in every way. The challenge will be for entrepreneurs with this vision to find the supporting team needed to execute the many elements that transporting, storing, insuring and securing this kind of investment depends upon.

UK Hotels with Gallery-Worthy Art Collections