SPEND THE NIGHT WITH MUSEUM-QUALITY WORKS BY PICASSO, WARHOL, MIRÓ AND MORE AT THESE LUXURY LODGING OPTIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE
By Andrew Nodell | June 3, 2025
When traveling, there is often a firm distinction between your lodgings and points of artistic exploration. But what if the two could be merged? There are, in fact, world-class hotels across the globe that offer museum-quality art in addition to crisp linens and plush bathrobes. Travel to The Fife Arms in the misty Scottish Highlands and take in works by Pablo Picasso and Louise Bourgeois alongside opulent antiques and tartan textiles. Or venture to Ellerman House in Cape Town, South Africa, and discover works spanning two centuries amidst sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean. While sometimes all you need is a place to rest your head, here we explore eight properties that offer luxurious accommodations and a feast for the artistic eye.
Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s ‘Asleep in the Cyclone’ at 21c Museum Hotel Louisville. Photo courtesy 21c Museum Hotel Louisville.
21c Museum Hotel Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Art collectors Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson approached their concept for 21c Museum Hotel with the philosophy that “old looks better in the presence of new.” Driven by a passion to preserve and revitalize the downtown of their native Louisville, the couple has built a brand that extends to a multi-venue contemporary art museum across seven hotels in cities such as Chicago, St. Louis and Bentonville, Arkansas. The permanent collection in Louisville includes a monumental site-specific sculpture by Kentucky-born artist Anne Peabody that reflects her memory of a devastating tornado that leveled the area in 1974. Guests seeking a significantly more immersive experience can check in to the kaleidoscopic world of artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe with their large-scale Asleep in the Cyclone, one of the hotel’s functional guest rooms.
The Dolder Grand showcases 100-plus works by some of the world’s most renowned artists. Photo courtesy The Dolder Grand.
The Dolder Grand
Zurich, Switzerland
Since reopening in 2008, The Dolder Grand has amassed a museum-quality collection that reads like a who’s who in modern and contemporary art. Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a monumental Joan Miró sculpture overlooking the hilltop driveway and a massive 36-foot-long Andy Warhol work from 1979 titled Big Retrospective Painting. Throughout the property – indoors and out – guests encounter an extraordinary collection of artwork, thoughtfully curated to enrich their experience. Salvador Dalí’s surrealist masterpiece Femmes métamorphosées – Les sept arts welcomes diners to the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely’s vibrant collaborative work Le Monde can be found on the way to the spa, and Fernando Botero’s sensual Woman with Fruit looks out on the spa terrace’s sweeping views of picturesque Zurich. Wander throughout the sprawling property and discover works by Keith Haring, Urs Fischer, Max Ernst, Donald Judd, Damien Hirst and many more blue-chip masters.
A look inside the contemporary art gallery at Ellerman House. Photo courtesy Ellerman House.
Ellerman House
Cape Town, South Africa
With panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearly 1,000 artworks on display, Cape Town’s historic Ellerman House is a feast for the eyes. Throughout the hotel, the country’s varied landscapes are featured in works that speak to the South African experience. Canvases by early pictorial historians of the mid-19th century, like Thomas Bowler, are shown alongside works that showcase the emergence of pioneering 20th-century Black portraitists like Gerard Sekoto and George Pemba. The hotel’s contemporary art gallery is an eclectic grouping of the current generation of South African artists, including Benon Lutaaya, Heidi Fourie and Blessing Ngobeni, who explore the complex and ongoing social issues of the African nation.
Displayed above Rome Cavalieri’s concierge and reception desks is a series of Venetian landscapes by Giuseppe Zais. Photo courtesy Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Rome Cavalieri
Rome, Italy
Perched atop Rome’s highest hill and within a lush 15-acre park, Rome Cavalieri offers stunning views of the Eternal City and is home to a museum-quality collection of more than 1,000 treasures, including 16th-century masters, sculptures, Louis XV and First Empire furniture with royal provenance, and contemporary works by Andy Warhol and Robert Indiana. Take note of four masterpieces by 18th-century Venetian landscape painter Giuseppe Zais and rare 17th-century Sicilian bas-reliefs adorning the lobby reception.
Three works by Sam Richardson hang in the Zabriskie House East Parlor at the Inns of Aurora Resort & Spa. Photo courtesy the Inns of Aurora.
Inns of Aurora Resort & Spa
Aurora, New York
Situated in New York’s picturesque Finger Lakes region, the Inns of Aurora Resort & Spa is filled with more than 250 pieces from philanthropist and entrepreneur Pleasant T. Rowland’s personal art collection. Throughout the resort’s six stately properties, the collection includes works by modernists Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, Romare Bearden and Wayne Thiebaud, as well as colorful canvases by pop greats like Tom Wesselmann and Jim Dine.
Pablo Picasso’s ‘Nude and Man with a Pipe’ from 1967 adorns the Drawing Room of The Fife Arms. Photo courtesy The Fife Arms.
The Fife Arms
Braemar, Scotland
Tucked away in the Scottish village of Braemar, The Fife Arms is the vision of owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth, co-founders of the celebrated Hauser & Wirth gallery. The hotel is home to more than 16,000 works of art and historical objects, including site-specific commissions by contemporary artists like Zhang Enli and Guillermo Kuitca and original pieces by Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud and Flemish Old Master Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The Wirths’ eclectic and multilayered curatorial eye is seen throughout the property, from watercolors by Queen Victoria to a fantastical flying stag by James Prosek.
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Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington presides over XV Beacon’s Bromfield Suite. Photo courtesy XV Beacon.
XV Beacon
Boston, Massachusetts
Amidst Boston’s historic cobblestone streets and alongside its famous gilt-domed State House sits a hidden trove of art within the XV Beacon hotel. Housed within an early 20th-century Beaux Arts building, XV Beacon’s collection includes an ancient Roman mosaic, abstractions by painter Maggi Brown and canvases by portraitist Gilbert Stuart, who is best remembered for his 1796 depiction of President George Washington. Guest rooms are adorned with commissioned works by contemporary American artists such as Martha Lloyd, Ben Freeman and Tony Evanko to inspire even the weariest of travelers.
The Omni Homestead’s American Audubon Dining Room features 18 works from the John James Audubon collection. Photo courtesy The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa.
The Omni Homestead Resort & Spa
Hot Springs, Virginia
Nestled in the picturesque Allegheny Mountains, The Omni Homestead Resort is a turn-of-the-century luxury inn with a spa, two golf courses, a ski resort and nearly 140 works of art. The Homestead, which sits on the site of a lodge dating back to the 1760s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has played host to dozens of presidents and is filled with works that reflect its place in American history. The resort’s American Audubon Dining Room offers 18 original prints by artist and naturalist John James Audubon from his Birds of America series. Other works were inspired by the resort’s natural beauty, including murals and paintings of the property’s hot spring pools and rolling countryside by 19th-century landscape artist Edward Beyer and contemporary realist Ed Hatch.
