Hotels for art lovers

by Anna Brones on

Last time I went to San Francisco I was happy to come across Hotel des Arts, a well-priced boutique hotel. I am normally a hostel-goer, so anytime I can branch out and have my own room it’s cause for celebration. Despite Hotel des Arts being an actual hotel, I was even more excited about its use of art as interior design. The hotel hired a San Francisco gallery owner, John Doffing, to curate the hotel and he brought in work by every type of artist from graffiti taggers to professional illustrators. The end product is a hotel full of color and life, and a look into the local San Francisco art scene, all without even leaving the hotel doors; I was hooked.

Budget Travel just published their own list of Art Hotels; places to stay where you can rest assured that your room won’t be painted in white. On the list:

Hotel des Arts, San Francisco
The Winston, Amsterdam
Art Luise Kunsthotel, Berlin
Daddy Long Legs, Cape Town
Hotel Fox, Copenhagen

To read descriptions of these and other hotels and their artistic rooms and settings go here. You might be so inspired you won’t even make it to the surrounding museums.

Photo of the Day (2-20-08)

by Jamie Rhein on

A couple days ago, Catherine snagged one of Larixk’s photos for a Photo of the Day selection. Now, I’ve picked this one, but it’s just by chance. The message on this building captures the mood I’m in. Time, for me, comes in fits and starts. Rarely is there a smooth transition from the beginning of the day until the end. Right now, I’m wondering how long I have to finish this sentence before I have to pick my son up from the school bus. The answer? Two seconds.

How long from the time I left to pick him up and come back? 15 minutes. On a larger thematic scale, this shot has a mysterious quality. This is in Berlin, but where? What are those white tents? How long will they stay up?

If you have a shot that evokes questions about the meaning of life send it along at Gadling’s Flickr photo pool. We love to ponder.

Berlin: A Bargain City with Bargain Hotels

by Neil Woodburn on

With a plummeting US dollar, there remains very few places in Europe that are a bargain for visiting Americans. Fortunately, Berlin is one of them.

Berlin is my favorite German city because history has raised and dropped it so many times that it is practically bipolar in nature. These days, the city is neither at is nadir or zenith. It is somewhere in between, suffering financially and economically.

Berlin’s woes, however, are travelers’ good fortune, according to a recent AP article, Berlin Hotels offer high style at budget prices.

Apparently, a troubled economy coupled with Berlin’s quirky, artsy character has resulted in a number of very cool, very chic hotels popping up around the city that are cheap and exceptional for their value.

Budget chic. I love it.

Take, for example, Ostel. This great pun on the word Hostel and Ost (German for East) is a communist themed retro hotel with rooms going for just $53 (above photo). Or, there’s the $65 a night Arte Luise Kunsthotel in which every room has been personalized and designed by a local artist.

If you’ve ever dreamed of going to Berlin, now is the time; because if you don’t act soon, it will soon be as expensive as the rest of Germany.

1 in 5 Germans Want The Berlin Wall Back

by Martha Edwards on

Here’s an interesting tidbit I heard on the radio today while driving to my favourite sushi place: 1 in 5 Germans want the Berlin Wall back. An iconic symbol of the Cold War and the divide between communism and capitalism, the Berlin Wall was broken down amidst much celebration in 1990.

And perhaps even more surprising? Those who want it back are mostly Eastern Germans. Apparently, breaking down the wall didn’t put an end to differences between the east and west in Germany; Despite the absence of a dividing line, Easterners in Germany still feel like second-class citizens compared to Westerners. And I don’t blame them — salaries in the east are 25% lower than those in the west, and unemployment rates in the west are half of that of the east. Yet despite all that, 73% of Western Germans don’t feel that Eastern Germans are at a disadvantage.

As a side note, if you want to see a movie that depicts the effects of the Berlin Wall falling, rent Goodbye Lenin — it’s excellent.

Photo of the Day (9/20/07)

by Neil Woodburn on


Dammit!

I’ve been to this exact location and after trying many “cool” angles, the best I could come up with was this.

Ace photographer Pirano, however, has managed to snap the coolest shot of Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial I’ve ever seen. The dark looming pillars, the glimmery shine, the little brick path the runs on forever, and foreboding doom that hangs over this masterpiece really blows my feeble attempt away. Congrats, Pirano, for an excellent photograph.

If you’d like lavish praise heaped upon your photography skills, jump on over to our Gadling Flicker Pool and upload your most worthy efforts.