Hotel as Gallery: The Phoenix Hotel and SFAI

Last weekend I went to San Francisco Art Institute’s MFA Graduate Exhibition at The Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin district. With its two-storey guestroom wings surrounding a central courtyard and pool, this 1956 mid-century motor inn lends itself to such . . . Read More

The Marmont Mystique

A section in the Grand Hotel exhibition traces the considerable history of the hotel as a site of cultural production. While researching one of the featured properties, the Chateau Marmont, I couldn’t help but be seduced by the glamorous snapshots . . . Read More

Minibar for the Mind

In January 2011 the Morgans Hotel Group announced the launch of a thought provoking new amenity for their hotel rooms, a minibar for the mind.

The Minibar for the Mind was produced in partnership with The School of Life. Renowned . . . Read More

Powers of Ten

Over the next few months I’ll be writing short posts on some of the objects selected for a section of the exhibition that looks at the critical role of design in the evolution of the hotel. The section’s working title, . . . Read More

Camps of Crime

When travelling by automobile first became fashionable, finding suitable accommodation enroute presented a considerable challenge. In North America at the turn of the 20th century, the train was the principal means of transportation for leisure, and hotels had developed in . . . Read More

Hotels and the Child Psychology: Why Jean Piaget Matters

Last year my family and I spent spring break at two hotels in Palm Springs: the Ace Hotel & Swim Club and the Parker. Aside from the obvious desert amenities – multiple swimming pools and sprawling sites – they have . . . Read More

The Politics of Travel

Before beginning to work on this exhibition, I never gave much thought to the reasons why hotels are built in particular places, naively assuming that hotel construction was directly related to the demands and desires of travellers. While this may . . . Read More

A Shift of Focus

The Grand Hotel exhibition opens in one year’s time on April 13, 2013. In preparation for this event, we are shifting the focus of the blog to reflect our current research. For the past year, we’ve reported on new trends, . . . Read More