Without a doubt, this is one of the most eclectic collection of places I’ve ever put together in a single blog post, so hang on tight. A few weeks ago, I was talking to someone about cool hotel lobbies here in NYC. Since my friend was also interested in drinking I mentioned the bar in the Ace Hotel lobby, which I love, despite the fact that tons of other people love going there too. I give the lobby an A+ for décor. One of the things I love about it is a mural that curves along a back wall and up the staircase (pictured above). It was created by Bronx-born artist Michael Anderson. Back in the early 1990s he began to collect graffiti stickers and nowadays, his collection numbers in the tens of thousands. The mural was made using scans of about 4,000 stickers that were printed (in black-and-white) on silk paper, and assembled into an awesome collage.

Talking about that mural at the Ace reminded me of some of the artistic creations that I have encountered in other hotel lobbies. An odd roundup for your perusal below. And a slideshow of images here.

Gadsden Hotel
Douglas, Arizona

In my opinion, the biggest surprise waiting for visitors to the Gadsden is the sprawling, 42-foot-long Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural decorating a mezzanine in the lobby (reached by grand marble staircase).  The colorful desert landscape motif includes saguaro cactus, ocotillo, agave, and prickly pear cactus. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since passing through the town a few years ago. (Someone made a short—and shaky—video of it here.)

Named after the famous Gadsden Purchase (the 1853 treaty that added a sizeable chunk of land in southern Arizona and western New Mexico), the hotel opened in 1907. BTW: the walls of Saddle and Spur Tavern, just off the lobby, are decorated with a hundreds of different styles of livestock branding symbols. A great place for cowboys and cowgirls to toss a few back.

Camino Real
El Paso, Texas

I was in El Paso this past weekend, and since hotels were on my mind I decided to see if there was anything in El Paso to write about. I knew I wanted to mention the Tiffany treasure in the Gadsden, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that another Tiffany & Co. design awaited me in the Camino Real (formerly the Paso Del Norte Hotel).

It’s located in the Dome Bar, which was the original lobby to the hotel when it was built in 1912. Here, the two-story vaulted-ceiling houses the 25 ft. diameter stained glass artwork. It’s pretty spectacular.

Hotel Chelsea
New York, NY

Ornate wrought-iron balconies decorate the façade of the Chelsea Hotel (built in 1883) and distinguish it from most of the other architecture you’ll find on this stretch of 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. Despite the eye-catching invitation out front, I find that a surprisingly high number of people I know have never bothered to poke their heads into the lobby. Anyone who does is treated to a bonanza of artworks from an army of visual artists (many were former guests) spanning past decades.

Gramercy Park Hotel
New York NY

This spot is pretty over-the-top fabulous, but that’s to be expected given the fact that hotelier Ian Schrager enlisted artist Julian Schnabel to decorate his hotel. Awe-inducing works (mostly by Schnabel) also include Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Richard Prince, Damien Hirst, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Schnabel also designed many of the furnishings himself, including the sawtooth lamp in the main lobby.

Hotel Congress
Tucson, Arizona

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include the Hotel Congress (built in 1919) in this roundup: I worked in the cafe for a few years when I was in college (ages ago), so it holds a special place in my heart. If you ask me, they have packed too many tables and chairs in and around the hotel over the years, but whatever; it still has its charms.

The lobby, the hotel’s most distinctive design feature, was painted by artist Larry Boyce. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out much about him. According to the hotel’s website, Boyce arrived on bicycle in the spring of 1989 and offered to decorate the lobby in “Southwest Deco.” 

And be sure to check out the slideshow of hotel entrances. 

Who, in your opinion, has the best hotel lobby?

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