For The Sake Of Hotel Art: An Indoor Sculpture Garden In New Orleans

March 14, 2012 at 10:30 AM | by ASchechter | Comments (0)

Lots of hotel lobbies are trying to be hipper, cooler, and more action-packed these days. And while the Renaissance New Orleans Arts Hotel is not necessarily any of those things, we were repeatedly lured out of our room to enjoy the hotel's indoor sculpture garden, an eclectic collection of local art nestled among plenty of plants and trees on the mezzanine level.

Housed under a giant glass ceiling, the entire atrium gets plenty of natural light, and all the rooms look down onto the garden. The open design means some guests can look out at the sculptures from their rooms, but why would you want to limit yourself like that?

With all the light pouring down from above, and all the leafage framing the art, strolling around the "garden" actually feels like being outside.

Of course, the entire rest of the lobby is crammed with art, since that's kind of their "thing." Right by the front entrance, you'll find a giant blue glass wall, with different symbols etched into the squares. Up on the ceiling are hand-blown glass chandeliers by Dale Chihuly (whose work we also spotted recently at the Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore), which look like little exploding rainbows.

Behind the check-in desk is a large colorful, New Orleans-inspired painting made from thousands of little puzzle pieces. We weren't sure if that was some comment on all the endless busywork that goes into running an efficient hotel, with all the complaints, hiccups, and changes of plan that come with the job.

Luckily, check-in and check-out were both smooth as butter, leaving us with even more time to wander around soaking up all the pretty art.

[Photos: HotelChatter]

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