You can’t go to any hotel these days without brushing against art. At the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, your eyes are drawn to Riyas Komu’s rather alarming interpretation of Bollywood — a large electric blue installation with a dismembered body of an actress surrounded by a ‘first day first show’ gaping crowd.
At the ITC Maratha, from reception to restaurant and all through the stately corridors, there’s an exquisite celebration of local art and craft traditions with Warli paintings, Paithani saris and murals inspired by Ajanta and Ellora. There are also the more modern figurative thumb paintings by the Hattarkis, depicting joyous rural scenes.
Be it the newly-opened Andaz in the capital, which is peppered with installations that show an evolving Delhi, The Park in Chennai that pays tribute to Gemini Studios through its cinematic photographic collection, or the colonial-era lithographs at The Imperial in Delhi, quite a few hotels are investing in a certain theme for the art they put on their walls. Edgy and contemporary in some cases, classical or folksy in others, the art blends in with the ethos of the hotel and makes a certain statement about what the property stands for. At The Oberoi Group’s Gurgaon hotels, it’s also a reflection of its president Kapil Chopra’s tastes — an avid collector, he is a passionate promoter of the works of young artists and his curatorial touch is evident.
But it is six-year-old boutique hotel Le Sutra that has taken art to an altogether different level, having made it its very raison d’etre. Over 120 painters, 40 sculptors and 15 designers have created this exotic little getaway in Mumbai’s posh Khar neighbourhood, that positions itself as India’s first art hotel. Just two minutes walk from the Arabian Sea, this quaint, charming place draws its inspiration from mythology and from the three guna s — Tamas, Rajas and Sattva.
Denzil D’Souza, the affable general manager of Le Sutra, describes how the guna s are the sutra or the thread that binds together the 16 rather distinctive rooms.
As you take the winding white staircase that leads you up to the rooms, you find a palette of philosophy has gone into the making of this hotel. Floor one has rooms that depict the tamasic aspects of life, floor two is focused on rajasvik , and floor three, sattvik .
Each room is distinctive and a glorious interpretation of a character or concept, unfolding a different story from ancient Indian texts. For instance, the Ravana room has a striking chair with demonic horns, 10 pairs of eyes illustrated on the wall, a painting that shows his musical prowess and a headboard that is a witty diary of the Asura king’s thoughts.
From Ashoka to Krishna, the artists and sculptors, and interior designers working in tandem, have given free rein to their imagination in depicting these heroic figures. With its wooden peacock chair, the Krishna room in blue and green hues has mischievous undertones, in keeping with the image of the playful god.
There are rooms that are devoted to concepts such as maya (illusion), prakriti (Nature) and vaasna (sensuality). The Maya room is interestingly designed with a solo woman traveller in mind and D’Souza tells you it is in high demand.
Much to my amusement, I find that even the restrooms have a lot of art and quite cerebral ones at that. As D’Souza says with a straight face — no need to carry books inside when you do your morning routine.
The top-most floor is a gallery where artists can hold exhibitions or authors conduct their book readings. The hotel promotes a spiritual line of publishing, with Karma Korner near the reception displaying books with titles like Dream Sutra , Aatma Sutra and so on. In contrast with all the exotic Indian-ness of the hotel, the bistro-like restaurant Out of the Blue has a totally Mediterranean look and feel.
The mix clearly works, going by the glowing reviews on TripAdvisor. “We are ranked 33 in TripAdvisor out of 440 hotels in Mumbai, ahead of many five-stars,” says a proud D’Souza. Clearly, Le Sutra has perfected the art of hospitality.
(Chitra Narayanan is an editorial consultant with Business Line who writes on consumer behaviour but keeps an interested gaze at the travel and hospitality sector)
