Check in and check out the art

By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ

Associated Press

DALLAS

Hotel rooms are no longer just a place to shower, sleep or maybe indulge in a breakfast in bed. They’re now also spots to pick up a souvenir — and no, we aren’t talking about stealing the towels.

Like that painting over the bed? How about that drawing next to the TV? At hotels around the globe, guests now have the option to buy the artwork in their rooms.

For several years, hotels have invited local artists in to decorate hallways, lobbies and other public spaces. It’s a way they can distinguish themselves from the cookie- cutter chains and offer guests a sense of their unique city or town. Now, they are taking that partnership one step further and turning bedrooms into minisalesrooms.

The recently-opened Omni Dallas hotel features more than 6,500 original pieces of art from 150 local artists in guest rooms and public spaces. The art is one of the reasons the property doesn’t feel like every other hotel. It also gives guests the option of taking a bit of Texas culture home with them.

And the Omni Dallas is not the only one.

The Lancaster Arts Hotel, in Pennsylvania, sells art found in guest rooms, its own gallery and common spaces, all from local artists and craftsmen.

Some chain hotels trying to distinguish themselves are getting into the art business.

At the Renaissance Arts Hotel in New Orleans, don’t expect to see price lists in the rooms. But guests who ask the staff can learn how to buy the various pieces of artwork, such as the glass sculptures in the bathroom that go for about $300. Each room features an original picture and the hotel is also able to refer guests to the artist or gallery if they are interested in other works.

Guests at the new Conrad New York can’t take home the hotel’s signature piece of art, Sol Lewitt’s “Loopy Doopy [Blue and Purple]” which fills 13 stories of the lobby. However, each room has a tile representing part of the work. The gift shop sells the same tiles for $95.