21C Hotel in Louisville -- It really is the best hotel in America!

Monday, November 9, 2009

I'm in high sensory overload mode right now.  I checked into 21C Hotel in Louisville this morning, and although I know it was just voted the #1 hotel in America a few weeks ago by Conde Nast Traveler, I was unprepared for the experience.  It's called an "art hotel" and they're not kidding.  There's art everywhere, including the men's room (I checked).  The name "21C Hotel" indicates that all of the art is of the 21st century.  And from all over the world, according to the wall cards. 

Well, I guess they mean all the art is done by artists still living because there are several Chuck Close pieces, one of which dates back to the 1980's.  But still.  Some of the stuff is so new I wondered if the paint had really dried.

Of course the art is eclectic.  The chandelier in the vestibule of the 4th floor elevator looks perfectly normal, with crystals linking the bulbs, but when you look at it you see that the silver pieces dangling down from the crystal strands are cuticle scissors.  Worth the double take and very amusing.

There's several walls of Kara Walker's work, an artist I'd admired at the Miami University art museum.  I recognized what must be her trademark--a silhouette of an African-American woman embedded somewhere in the work.  And then it was fun to see a Chuck Close piece of her done a few years ago. 

The mirrors in the public restrooms on the first floor are dotted with photos of eyeballs, which is a bit unnerving.  And particularly so when you read the wall plaque that informs you these are eyeballs of blind people.  The men's room is far more interesting than the women's room because the urinal is one whole wall of falling water.  Not only is the urinal a flat wall of water, but it's a mirror so guys who are peeing can look outside to see who's walking down the hallway.  What a way to go!

To take the elevator up to the floors with rooms on them, guests must run their room card through a slot on the elevator before it will go up.  This security measure was added because the public is welcome to browse through the art in the hotel's public spaces, but is not invited to the room floors.  Nice.

Several years ago the owners of the hotel were at the Venice Bienniale, where some Italian artists had created dozens of red penguins as a statement about global warming (don't ask).  They bought all 45 of them and have them displayed around the hotel and outside on top of the building.  The red penguins have become the hotel's logo of sorts, with all the workers wearing red penguin lapel buttons.  I'm told that when the next 21C hotels are opened (Cincinnati and Austin coming up), they, too, will have penguins as their logo but in different colors. 

There's even red penguins in all the hallways.

Not only is the hotel a sight to behold, but it's strategically located in the heart of downtown Louisville, a block away from the Louisville Slugger Museum (where I ordered a bat for my 10-year old grandson Soyer)

and the Kentucky Arts and Crafts Council museum, which is full of treasures.

Michael Bonadies, of the Myriad Restaurant Group in NYC, is the general manager (?) of 21C Hotel, and an old college friend of Jim Hall, who put me in touch with Michael.  I don't know whether the front desk guy just liked me or if Jim Hall's friendship with Michael was the magic ingredient, but I've got a superior room with views in three directions, including the Ohio River.  The room is larger than most NYC studios, and far more luxurious, too.  The room includes a table and chairs for 8 people should I meet up with the right people in the next 48 hours. 

When I returned from my exhausting artistic journey today, there was some fresh fruit and a tall bottle of mineral water from Michael, which made me feel Quite Special.

All in all, a spectacular welcome to Louisville.