The art at these hotels rivals the world’s best museums

For anyone who’s ever felt disappointed after standing in a long museum queue only to peer over a sea of heads at a famous painting, here’s a bit of good news: A growing number of hotels and resorts around the world have begun showcasing world-class art collections without the lines or velvet ropes.

Guests or afternoon visitors can book a guided tour, scan QR codes to learn more about a piece, attend rotating exhibit openings, or just have a coffee and gaze at a favorite painting, says Kelly Cahn, a New York-based art advisor and appraiser who has worked with hotels.

“These cultural elements really attract people,” says Cahn, including that her own family in Louisville, Kentucky, often meet up at the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville to enjoy works of art over a glass of bourbon. 

To take in some museum-worthy art without the lines, here are six hotels around the globe with extensive collections.

 Walking in the door of The Dolli, located in the heart of Athens, you might not notice the painted vases by Jean Cocteau and Pablo Picasso sitting atop the lobby’s marble fireplace. Checking in, I clocked the Jean Dubuffet painting behind registration and stroked the arms of a Les Lalanne bird chair I sat in. The eclectic mix of modern art and Greek and Egyptian antiquities provides a playful feel to the 100-year-old neoclassical building, which was awarded the 2024 Prix Versailles award for architecture.

“Coming into the Dolli is like going to a tea party with delights,” says Odyssia Sifounaki, whose family owns the Dolli and the Grecotel hotel chain. You don’t know what famous artist you will encounter around each corner of the light-filled space, from a drawing by Amedeo Modigliani with his cat’s footprints in the corner, to a lamp by Philippe Hiquily. Tours of the collection are available for everyone, and The Dolli hosts excursions for visiting art collectors. But perhaps the biggest draw of the 45-key hotel is its unspoiled rooftop view of the Acropolis.

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It’s hard to say what is more impressive at the chic beachfront Miramar: its prime location on the sand, or its 600-piece art collection. Enjoy a drink inside the wood-paneled Manor Bar that houses Fernando Botero’s painting, “Two Drunks.” The hotel is also home to Marc Chagall’s rare self-portrait, “The Circus with the Yellow Clown,” as well as a splashy Frank Stella over the lobby’s grand piano and Joan Miró’s “Migratory Bird” by the concierge. The hotel’s art collection was selected by real estate developer Rick Caruso. The art here has no theme and no rules, apparently. Caruso hung Hans Burkhardt’s abstract landscape, “Yosemite,” on its side, because it fit the space where he wanted it. Art tours are available, as well as guidebooks for self-guided tours. Once your tour is over, don’t miss a meal at Caruso’s restaurant overlooking the water, which earned its Michelin star in 2022.

Leave it to Iwan and Manuela Wirth—founders of one of the world’s most influential art galleries, Hauser & Wirth—to create a fashionable hotel in Braemar, Scotland, that has over 16,000 eclectic antiques and pieces of art displayed against custom tartan and tweed by designer Araminta Campbell. Pieces such as Picasso’s “Tête de Femme,” a painting of his mistress Marie-Thèrése Walter with a rare example of his poetry, hangs in reception; Lucien Freud’s “Child Portrait (Annie)” in the Drawing Room; and a Man Ray print of designer Elsa Schiaparelli in the namesake cocktail bar. Located two hours north of Edinburgh near Balmoral Castle, each of its 46 rooms is decorated in a unique theme, such as poetry and nature rooms, Victoriana suites, and Scottish culture rooms. A complimentary guided tour of the hotel’s art is available for guests, and visitors can book the tour along with high tea to immerse themselves in the setting.

Turquoise water and pink sands may be Bermuda’s best view, but the art at the Hamilton Princess, affectionately known as the “Pink Palace,” probably runs a close second. With over 500 works of contemporary work collected by the owners, the Green family, art is everywhere. You’ll see British and American art from René Magritte to Jasper Johns to Banksy, says Lisa Howie, an art docent. From the blue wave-like sculpture “Princesse des Airs” by Sylvestre Gauvrit in the front garden, to Julian Opie’s minimalist disembodied heads in the lobby, and the carbon bench by Tom Price down the hall, with its bejeweled resin end like a lit cigar, where guests can actually sit. A towering KAWS statute covering its face, “AT THIS TIME,” greets visitors arriving by boat and children who climb on its large wooden shoes, a risk for such an expensive piece of art.

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“When I give a tour,” Howie says, “I’ll watch people’s eyes pop. People are so used to seeing art as decor,” she says, they often don’t pick up on the famous works they are strolling past. “They’ll ask, ‘Is this real?’”

Housing one of Europe’s best public art collections outside of a museum, the landmark Dolder Grand perches on a hill overlooking Lake Zurich. The 175-room luxury hotel has more than 120 works on display from different 20th and 21st century art movements. A massive renovation to the fairytale property in 2008 brought in Salvador Dali’s “Femmes Metamorphoses—Les Sept Arts,” which now adorns the entrance to the restaurant, and a three-piece reclining figure by Henry Moore, lounging outside one of the new wings. In the Canvas Bar, guests might do a double-take on the lumpy sunburned man sculpture from Duane Hanson or be surprised by Takashi Murakami’s psychedelic “Troll’s Umbrella” down a corridor.  Guests can learn more about the works in owner Urs Schwarzenbach’s vast collection via QR codes or iPad tours.

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A small-but-mighty hidden gem located in the foothills of the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains, the AC Hotel’s lobby and mezzanine showcase a significant selection of modern masterworks on loan from one of the country’s largest private art collections, the Johnson Collection. The hotel is anchored by the groundbreaking mid-century artists and designers of Black Mountain College, an hour away, such as Buckminster Fuller, Elaine de Kooning, Ruth Asawa, and Robert Rauschenberg. The brick, 10-story downtown hotel owned by the Johnson family is a revelation to travelers unfamiliar with the dynamic experimental school, says Sarah Tignor, director of the collection. Visitors and guests are welcome to tour on their own, taking in Rauschenberg’s “Time and Ties” behind the front desk, Fuller’s “Truncated Icosahedron” in the lobby, and an untitled sculpture by Asawa over the elevator doors.