ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Chic hotels where treasures line the walls

Wake up among modern masterpieces in these glorious, gallery-like hotels

VILLA LA COSTE PROVENCE

Nestled among the verdant Provençal vineyards, Villa La Coste could be the home of a wealthy art collector with a keen eye for interior design. As you stroll through the grounds, look out for installations by Tracey Emin and Ai Weiwei. The hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Louison, is set in a giant glass cube surrounded by water; here, you can feast on delicious French cuisine including homemade foie gras and a decadent Paris-Brest prepared by the resident pastry chef. Afterwards, unwind in the spa – a calming oasis that makes good use of local jasmine and olive oils in its soothing treatments – or retire to one of the sleek suites that blend cool marble bathrooms and private terraces with geometric sofas and vibrant pictures on the walls. ella phillips

Villa La Coste, from about £595 a room a night with Mr & Mrs Smith (www.mrandmrssmith.com).

MAX BROWN 7TH DISTRICT VIENNA

Once the home of Gustav Klimt, the city’s seventh district has long drawn flâneurs and composers to its winding streets. Now, thanks to the arrival of the Max Brown hotel group’s latest outpost, you can stay right in the heart of the Museum Quarter. The property has quirky, playful interiors, and houses an astonishing 480-piece, all-Viennese art collection, including original works by the avant-garde feminist Renate Bertlmann, who represented Austria at the Venice Biennale this year. The creative flair extends to all areas of the hotel, from a palette of jewel greens and blues in the bar, to the bespoke lighting fixtures and chairs by the Amsterdambased furniture company Pols Potten; even the food in the restaurant Seven North, headed by the acclaimed chef Eyal Shani, is served with a painter’s flourish. meg honigmann

Max Brown 7th District (www.maxbrownhotels.com), from about £95 a room a night.

TOREL 1884 PORTO

This charming Portuguese bolthole is housed in an elegant former palace with 12 spacious rooms and suites. An ethereal installation by the artist João Pedro Rodrigues is in the entrance hall, and a collage of vintage fans, textiles and illustrations hangs on the wall behind the reception desk. Bedrooms are decorated with bold, whimsical wallpapers covered in exotic birds and animals to celebrate Portugal’s pioneering explorations of Asia and the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries. Large, mixed-media works by the painter Jorge Curval punctuate Torel 1884’s various spaces and an old-fashioned travel trunk has been transformed into a delightful honesty bar, should you wish to pour yourself a nightcap before bed. lucy halfhead

Torel 1884 (www.torelboutiques.com), from about £125 a room a night.

AMERIKALINJEN OSLO

Like its sister hotel the Thief, Amerikalinjen lets art take centre stage under its vaulted ceilings and elaborate timber cornices. Occupying the former headquarters of a cruise-ship company, it contains a vertiginous sculpture, Towers, by the British artist Julian Opie and colourful pieces from the American painters Alex Katz and Shepard Fairey. After exploring the nearby National Gallery, stop at the ground-floor bar Pier 42 for a stylish cocktail garnished with a letter ‘A’, perfectly cut from orange rind, before strolling through the hotel to admire the mid-century pieces dotted throughout, from Birger Dahl’s Birdy lamp to the Veng armchair by Torbjorn Bekken. mh

Amerikalinjen (www.amerikalinjen.com), from about £205 a room a night.

SANT FRANCESC HOTEL SINGULAR PALMA

At the end of a day wandering the cobbled streets of the Old Town, there’s nothing better than an aperitif on Sant Francesc Hotel Singular’s fairy-tale rooftop pool terrace, with its views from Mallorca’s Tramuntana Mountains to the sandy Balearic coastline. This smart property draws the chicest visitors to the city, thanks to its minimalist interiors and a spectacular private collection of contemporary art, from talents including Guillem Nadal, Riera i Aragó, Dominica Sánchez and Jordi Alcaráz. It was built in the 1880s as a manor house, and its former stables have been converted into a fabulous restaurant, Quadrat, which serves tasty Mediterranean fare and the hotel’s signature Agua Bendita gin cocktail, lightly flavoured with lavender. lh Sant Francesc Hotel Singular (www. hotelsantfrancesc.com), from about

£260 a room a night.