grand hotel exhibition

Grand Hotel - An Affair To Remember

grand hotel exhibition vancouver art gallery[trip style = staycation]

Pop Quiz: where in the world can you travel, and stay in multiple iconic hotels at the same time? Answer: The Vancouver Art Gallery, at its just-launched Grand Hotel: Redesigning Modern Life, April 13 - September 15, 2013.

Do yourself a favor; run, fly, sail, drive---or use any transport at your disposal, moped maybe?---to reach Vancouver, Canada this spring-slash-summer.

As the Vancouver Art Gallery's newest exhibition still had a figurative Do Not Disturb sign on the door, I peeked in last Thursday at the show's pre-open. To say I liked the exhibition is an epic understatement, in fact, it left me in a hotel high---higher than Dubai's Burj Khalifa {pop quiz #2...which contains the Armani Hotel}!

travel

Nearly seven years in the making, the exhibit charts the evolution of the hotel from its origins as a utilitarian structure to a cultural phenomenon, tracking hotel trends through four lenses: travel, social, design and culture.

grand hotel exhibition

Chronicling game-changers from the 1887-built Raffles hotel to the 2010-built Marina Bay Sands {where people book a room for the sole purpose of perching in the surfboard-shaped SkyPark’s 150-meter infinity pool}, the multimedia show acts as a lab into hotel life.

vintage pan am poster grand hotel vancouver art gallery

Anyone obsessed with vintage or modern travel memorabilia will be like a kid in a candy store. {Dare we say it’s better than Pinterest travel porn?} Artifacts are everywhere, think: vintage travel trunks, an original Pan Am Airways poster {above}, or Richard Hutten’s Tokyo popup hotel room {below}, to name a few.

richard hutten tokyo popup hotel grand hotel vancouver art gallery

Speaking of artifacts, one of Trip Styler's FAVE hotel groups, Ace Hotels, is not only showcased in every major area of the expo, but they also have an Ace-exclusive popup shop featuring some in-room faves like the grey jersey Wings + Horns boxing-style bathrobe, or the near-iconic Pearl+ soap bars, plus some Vancouver-only products. Here's a six-second video I shot at the popup: {Can't view this video?}

Visiting Grand Hotel is a travel taster of international proportions. Warning: every step will extend your bucket list.

The Details
  • The exhibition runs from April 13 - September 15, 2013
  • An adult ticket is $21, but admission is by donation every Tuesday after 5pm
  • If it’s sunny, take a break from hotel-spotting and sit on the Gallery’s cafe patio, a gorgeous urban space complete with marble tables and euro flair
  • Find insider tips via the exhibition's blog, active since 2011

holidayinn grand hotel

[photos by @tripstyler]