Word: artful
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Sometimes even the most dedicated gallery goer can't find the time to stand in a ticket line or the patience to brave the crowds. So what could be more sybaritic for the jet-setting art lover than to book into a hotel with its own museum-quality collection? Here are three of the more offbeat best - all with private owners passionate about amassing serious art to share with their guests...
...MERRION HOTEL, DUBLIN The epitome of relaxed Georgian grandeur with its rococo plasterwork ceilings, antiques and Irish fabrics, the Merrion Dublin (www.merrionhotel.com) has one of the most important collections of Irish art outside a conventional gallery - and it's constantly evolving as proprietor Lochlann Quinn makes fresh purchases. The explosive color and intensity of nudes by Irish Post-Impressionist Roderic O'Connor, a close friend of Gauguin's, contrast strikingly with the simplified shapes and subtle lighting in William Scott's kitchen-implement still lifes. The collection also features powerful observations of Irish rural life by Jack B. Yeats, brother...
...RIAD EL FENN, MARRAKESH The mood in the Riad El Fenn (www.riadelfenn.com), owned by art collector Vanessa Branson, is hip and hugely eclectic. In the hallway an unmistakable Bridget Riley - all colorful zigzag brickwork - is juxtaposed with rows of leather slippers and mirrors, which immediately lend the painting a Moroccan edge. A stunning light sculpture inspired by a hookah pipe and crafted out of meter-long handblown glass vessels by New Zealander Francis Upritchard vies for attention with small studies in carbon and casein donated by sculptor Antony Gormley after he stayed at the hotel. And there...
...HOTEL SEMIRAMIS, ATHENS Springing from the mind of Egyptian-British designer Karim Rashid, Hotel Semiramis (www.semiramisathens.com) has a glowing pink-glass cube for a lobby, home to a rotating collection of hypermodern, provocative art. Much of the work is on loan from owner Dakis Joannou, founder of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art in Athens. Currently, the lobby's centerpiece is the compelling image of artist Vanessa Beecroft's own highly stylized wedding in an Italian chapel, with all the guests dressed in white. It's wittily complemented by Tim Noble and Sue Webster's huge flashing YES sculpture...
...CHOPIN Call it alcohol alchemy. This talented firm of Polish distillers has perfected the art of transmuting the humble potato into a super-smooth and creamy drink. It's an excellent body warmer, ideal for downing after a day on the ski slopes. ($60; www.chopinvodka.com...