hospitalitystyle.com

(July 2011) posted on Thu Jul 28, 2011 EDT

Designers debate how to budget for one of hospitality’s most important accessories.

By Mary Scoviak

Plenty of owners want gallery hotels. But how much will they spend to get them? One of the members of Hospitality Style’s Linkedin Group  wanted to find out, so she posted a question asking what a typical art budget for a W, Aloft, Indigo or Andaz would be.

Beyond the “it depends” kinds of answers, hospitality designers advised digging down to understand brand standards and how much art is part of the overall identity. They also suggested determining whether the hotel will be working with an art consultancy or will be developing its own art program, a subject covered by our sister magazine Boutique Design. Rack rate might also provide some perspective. And, of course, networking always helps, especially if you can talk to a designer who has worked on the particular brand.

Whatever the numbers, they’re never enough—unless, maybe you’re working with Steve Wynn or a handful of art collectors turned hoteliers. It’s been interesting to see how designers are copying. In San Francisco, gallery owner/entrepreneur John Doffing  called on up-and-coming artists like Chor Boogie to create art on the walls of specialty suites in the Hotel des Arts. And why not? Street artists, graffiti artists and a lot more artists who need and want the high visibility a hotel can provide are contributing one-of-kind statements on workable commission budgets. Technology has made overscale graphics especially interesting, along with mobile sculptures and computer art. It’s all good news for the hospitality design community because it’s made art an integral part of the design package. And, more and more, it's teaching owners and operators that art needs to be original or at least inventive--and, hopefully, worthy of a larger investment.