Jamaican hotels using art to enhance guest experience

October 30, 2019

As part of hotels’ brand enhancement, artwork is becoming integral to the guest experience.

Two of Jamaica’s newest hotels, it seems, were taking notice.

One of the first things that capture the attention of guests entering the AC Hotels Marriott lobby are two large sculpted pieces. Moulded from cedar, ‘Black Petals’ represent a deep feminine aesthetic with curling and textured petals.

The pieces were sculpted by Jamaican contemporary artist Laura Facey whose ‘Redemption Song’ – nude male and female bronze figures standing in a pool of water in Emancipation Park – was unveiled on the eve of Emancipation Day 16 years ago.

On the wall in front of ‘Black Petals’ is Cosmo Whyte’s ‘Shotta’ which is a mixed media drawing using the vintage still of Jimmy Cliff from the film, ‘The Harder They Come’. The second-hand ties, both inherited and found to create a cast of masqueraders, are iconic symbols of masculinity that act as vehicles travelling the landscape of memory and identity, providing a link to their former owners.

Born in St. Andrew in 1982, Whyte resides in Atlanta and is a Professor at Morehouse College.

Hanging on a wall near the main elevators is Katrina Coombs’ ‘Invasion’ which is a textile piece comprising several blossoms grouped as a single flower.

Co-founder of a new art initiative to re-energize the art scene through exhibitions, residencies, artist career planning and development, Coombs has a passion for fibre and an understanding of the sensitivity of threads and fabric which has grown beyond design into sculptural forms.

Sales Director Marlene Buckridge said the hotel is an ode to Jamaica and Kingston’s rich culture.

Marlene Buckridge (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“This is where you find the music and the museums and we wanted to incorporate all of that here,” said the University of the West Indies Business Applications graduate whose tourism industry career was launched 19 years ago at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa resort that was acquired by Playa Hotels & Resorts in 2013. “AC refers to our travellers as curators and it was vital that we engage local artisans to create pieces specifically for this hotel.”

The AC Hotel Kingston bar (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

One of the Marriott’s 30 brands, AC – which has 400 parking spaces on three levels -- opened in June.

The six-floor European-inspired lifestyle 219-room hotel, which can accommodate guests with physical impairments, has an 18,000-square foot convention centre which is the largest meeting space in Kingston. Nearly 600 people can be accommodated in the space.

AC Hotel Kingston General Manager Koen Hietbrink with front desk staff Shantell Wellington (l), Venosha Hill & Renae Campbell (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“This is Kingston’s newest hot spot and it’s one of the newer brands that the Marriott has invested in,” added Buckridge who spent four years as Event Manager at The Westin Dublin in Ireland and 17 months as Resorts Events Manager at the Turnberry in Scotland. “We aren’t a full service in that we don’t offer room service, bell men or concierge. We provide select service and we are clean without being sterile.”

Jamaican architect Evan Williams’ footprint is all over the R Hotel that opened last January.

Pieces from the art aficionado’s huge collection adorn the walls of the 57,000-square foot New Kingston boutique hotel that he and musical artist Joe Bogandovich are major stakeholders of.

It is the only Jamaican hotel with an art gallery.

“Hotels usually support artists by offering their space,” said gallery curator Abigail Smith who is a self-taught painter and visual artist. “Never before has there been dedicated art space in a hotel. We have a very rich artistic culture in Jamaica and having a gallery in this hotel says that the tourism industry sector is very much recognizing art. It’s a great benefit for the hotel that isn’t only bringing in guests, but saying that we support our artists.”

The new gallery will host about six major exhibitions yearly.

“In between, we have our consignment gallery showcasing various artists, styles and mediums.” Smith, who was the Assistant Curator at Olympia Gallery for 43 months, pointed out.

University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Painting & Drawing lecturer Bryan McFarlane, whose interest is in the intersectionality of art and art history, textile artists Margaret Stanley and Gisele Gardner and ceramic artisans David Dunn and Leona McKoy are among the Jamaican artists whose work are on display in the R Hotel art gallery.

Art work adorn the R Hotel rooms (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

“We have noted and emerging artists works here,” said Smith. “As curator, I am looking for technique, style and medium when it comes to selecting pieces. We rotate every two to three weeks for consignment and if it’s a major exhibition, the pieces will be up for three to four weeks.”

Next to the gallery on the ground floor is Williams’ Design Collaborative architectural firm that won the bid to erect the new Jamaican parliament building at National Heroes Park.

The 48-room R Hotel has self-contained rooms, a private dining room, breakfast zones that allow for a scenic view of the Blue Mountain and the city, the Redbones two-sided bar with an extensive wine collection, a rooftop lap pool and a retractable roof on the eighth floor.