Three distinctive Art Hotels

Sometimes even the most dedicated gallery goer can't find the time to stand in a ticket line or the patience to brave the crowds. So what could be more sybaritic for the jet-setting art lover than to book into a hotel with its own museum-quality collection? Here are three of the more offbeat best — all with private owners passionate about amassing serious art to share with their guests.

MERRION HOTEL, DUBLIN

The epitome of relaxed Georgian grandeur with its rococo plasterwork ceilings, antiques and Irish fabrics, the Merrion Dublin has one of the most important collections of Irish art outside a conventional gallery — and it's constantly evolving as proprietor Lochlann Quinn makes fresh purchases. The explosive color and intensity of nudes by Irish Post-Impressionist Roderic O'Connor, a close friend of Gauguin's, contrast strikingly with the simplified shapes and subtle lighting in William Scott's kitchen-implement still lifes. The collection also features powerful observations of Irish rural life by Jack B. Yeats, brother of the poet, haunting society portraits by John Lavery and a specially commissioned Dublin triptych by Martin Mooney. For definitive insight into the works, a tour with Olive Knox, a curator at the National Gallery of Ireland, can be arranged.

RIAD EL FENN, MARRAKECH

The mood in the Riad El Fenn, owned by art collector Vanessa Branson, is hip and hugely eclectic. In the hallway an unmistakable Bridget Riley — all colorful zigzag brickwork — is juxtaposed with rows of leather slippers and mirrors, which immediately lend the painting a Moroccan edge. A stunning light sculpture inspired by a hookah pipe and crafted out of meter-long handblown glass vessels by New Zealander Francis Upritchard vies for attention with small studies in carbon and casein donated by sculptor Antony Gormley after he stayed at the hotel. And there's a big decorative abstract by Terry Frost in the cosy bar. Some photography is on show, too: moving black-and-white images of boy soldiers in the Congo by South African Guy Tillim.

HOTEL SEMIRAMIS, ATHENS

Springing from the mind of Egyptian-British designer Karim Rashid, Hotel Semiramis has a glowing pink-glass cube for a lobby, home to a rotating collection of hypermodern, provocative art. Much of the work is on loan from owner Dakis Joannou, founder of the DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art in Athens. Currently, the lobby's centerpiece is the compelling image of artist Vanessa Beecroft's own highly stylized wedding in an Italian chapel, with all the guests dressed in white. It's wittily complemented by Tim Noble and Sue Webster's huge flashing YES sculpture. And besides Spencer Tunick's photos of nude figures in an architectural landscape, even quirkier works are exhibited in the restaurant opposite the slinky, multicolored swimming pool. Taking a splash while contemplating 
 an intriguing work of art — what could be 
more refreshing?