Art & soul
Eastern and artistic influences have been used to Zen-like effect at these three hotels, writes Mike Dolan.
EAST, MIAMI east-miami.com
This impressive hotel sits across the bay from South Beach in the cosmopolitan Brickell precinct. Located in a prodigious glass tower that dominates the skyline, East’s lobby has a monumental brass and copper tubular art installation – all part of the package to impress its business clientele. The corporate market will also appreciate the almost 2000 square metres of function space, meeting rooms and outdoor venues with eye-popping views. The guestrooms, all 352 of them, have a subtle East-meets-West ambience, thanks in part to Zen-like artworks. Each room has a walk-in rain shower and sliding floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto a spacious balcony. Sugar, a breezy rooftop bar, serves Asian tapas but vegetarians be warned: the menu of the South Americaninspired restaurant Quinto La Huella is awash with meat cuts that sizzle and spit on a wood-fired barbecue – guaranteed to satisfy the appetite of any visiting wolf from Wall Street.
AMANEMU, JAPAN aman.com
This secluded Japanese property set in a national park on Honshu’s south-east coast has views over Ago Bay – a fitting site for Aman’s ethos of “peace and tranquillity”. The remote Amanemu is four-and-a-half hours by rail from Tokyo to the nearest station (Kashikojima) and just three hours, mostly by high-speed train, from Kyoto. The resort’s blend of refined luxury is evident in its 24 suites and four twobedroom villas, which all have large decks and onsens. Australian architect Kerry Hill was inspired by traditional Japanese minka country homes with their expanses of cedar, bamboo and stone, pavilion-style structures and garden courtyards.
THE JOHNSON, BRISBANE artserieshotels.com.au
Australia’s seventh Art Series hotel is not only dedicated to but also decorated with the work of Wynne Prize-winning abstract artist Michael Johnson. Located in inner-city Spring Hill on the edge of Brisbane’s CBD, The Johnson (opening in mid-September) is part of the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of Boundary Street’s modernist Karl Langerdesigned building. It’s a light-filled, informal property with stone floors, timber ceilings and a predominantly white palette – the perfect backdrop for Johnson’s vivid canvases. Many of the 87 self-contained, open-plan suites have sliding floor-to-ceiling doors leading to balconies. There are also two penthouses. Most impressive is the 50-metre lap pool and sundeck, an alfresco cocktail and canapé area with comfortable lounges and city views.