Hotel art has shifted over the past couple decades from decorative prints that “match the décor” to commissioned, site-specific works expressing a sense of place, according to Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, president and COO, Flag Luxury, a high-end hotel developer.

“Guests don’t want to experience generic decoration,” said Olarte de Kanavos. “They want a genuine narrative that creates emotion, conversation, and lasting memory.”

Around the country, hotel art has evolved from generic prints to museum-quality pieces. Here are five hotels with unexpected troves:

© Daxton Hotel

Daxton Hotel, Birmingham, Michigan
When opening Daxton Hotel, entrepreneur, real estate developer and hotel owner Mark Mitchell enlisted Los Angeles-based Saatchi Art to curate a 400-piece collection to display throughout the 151-room boutique. The hotel now features work by more than 160 artists from at least 50 countries.

Mitchell drew inspiration from the oversized, Pegasus-like Wings of Glory displayed at Burning Man in 2019. He called the installation’s sculptor, Adrian Landon, and commissioned a work for the hotel lobby. The 10-foot-tall, 24-karat-gold-plated Mechanical Horse gallops with the press of a button.

A few yards away is an Instagram-famous, 9-foot-tall metallic pink bunny by Laguna Beach artist Roark Gourley. Each guestroom also includes at least two custom pieces by international, national and regional artists drawing upon multiple mediums.

© The Ben Hotel

The Ben, West Palm Beach, Florida

Art at The Ben, a 208-room boutique hotel, is heavily inspired by Byrd Spilman Dewey, one of the area’s original settlers. The 19^th-century author and socialite owned the 1892 Victorian estate near where the hotel now stands and named it Ben Trovato — Italian for “well invented.” That credo influenced the hotel’s décor, which includes fanciful animal paintings, collaged archival photographs and whimsical sculptures.

On each floor, a gold-painted resin sculpture of a majestic Great Dane sits next to the elevator bank as if to greet guests. Measuring close to 7 feet long and more than 3 feet tall, the sentinels allude to Dewey’s most popular work: 1899’s Bruno, a children’s adventure story about a loyal dog. 

© Hotel Effie Sandestin

Hotel Effie Sandestin, Miramar Beach, Florida

Hotel Effie on Florida’s glistening Emerald Coast displays work by Alabama ceramist Deb Paradise and local artist Brendan Parker, inspired by the slower pace of this laid-back beach town. Parker created original pieces for each of the hotel’s 250 guestrooms as well as its public spaces. His work uses layered resin and dimensional abstract — a concept suggesting depth and form through layers, texture and shifting planes to reflect upon the ideas of movement and stillness. 

© Rosewood Miramar Beach

Rosewood Miramar Beach, Montecito, California

Real estate developer Rick Caruso hand-selected more than 600 works to furnish his 153-room Southern California oceanfront resort. The collection includes lithographs by Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso; photographs by Slim Aarons; and paintings spanning the canon from Norman Rockwell to Rashid Johnson.

Each work holds meaning for Caruso, and he placed the pieces throughout the hotel to feel like home while evoking a sense of wanderlust.

Waterfall in Love © Brandon Barree

Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, Orlando, Florida
The Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando showcases hundreds of works from founder Richard C. Kessler’s extensive personal collection. The luxury boutique hotel group’s flagship property emerged from a 2023 redesign that underscored Kessler’s vision for his arts and culture-mined chain. Hospitality design firm The Gettys Group drew inspiration from the 1897 Vienna Secession Movement’s spirit of artistic rebellion, choosing bold geometry, strong colors and rich textures.

The lobby prominently displays Waterfall in Love, whose cascading vertical lines mimic the flow of water. Atlanta artist Scott Ingram painted it with nail polish on a 10-foot-tall Dibond panel.