Art Hotels — six questions
The hotels in this section are worth a question because of how they are made or where they were put. A station front, a wall of gardens, chambers cut into rock, rooms lifted into trees, a harbour crane and a terrace at the edge of a slope. Hotels that only hang paintings in the corridors are not here; the building itself has to be the answer.
Six questions answered by structure rather than decoration.
05
Which hotel is the front of a railway station?
St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London
London, United Kingdom
the short answer: St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London is the front of St Pancras station. Its Victorian range, built as the Midland Grand, forms the facade that passengers walk past, and the trainshed begins directly behind it.
the long answer: Nineteenth-century railway companies put hotels at their termini, and the building was designed as the public face of the line, with the grand staircase as its centre. The Midland Grand later closed as a hotel and spent decades in other uses before the range was restored and reopened as a hotel again. The staircase, the corridors and the brick front survive from the original scheme.
what else is true: Not every bedroom sits in the Victorian range: part of the hotel occupies newer construction alongside it, so a booking does not automatically mean a historic room. The station concourse is a working transport hall, busy in both directions for most of the day.
answer checked: February 2027
St. Pancras Renaissance, London: the station front and its grand staircase.
06
Which hotel carries more garden than the ground it stands on?
Parkroyal Collection Pickering
Singapore
the short answer: Parkroyal Collection Pickering carries planting across its terraces and facade that covers more area than the plot beneath it. Sky gardens run along the building at several levels, and greenery hangs over the street.
the long answer: The design lifts the garden off the ground and repeats it up the building, so planted terraces sit between the guest floors like layers in rock. Contoured concrete forms the shelves that hold soil, water and trees. The scheme sits opposite Hong Lim Park in the middle of Singapore, where ground-level space is scarce and vertical planting is one way to give it back.
what else is true: The gardens are part of the architecture rather than a place to wander freely, and access to particular terraces depends on where you are staying. Tropical planting needs constant work, so watering, cutting and replacement are visible parts of the building's routine.
answer checked: February 2027
Parkroyal Collection Pickering, Singapore: planted terraces stacked along the facade.
07
Which hotel was dug out rather than built?
Argos in Cappadocia
Uçhisar, Türkiye
the short answer: Argos in Cappadocia was dug rather than raised. Its rooms occupy chambers cut into soft volcanic tuff at Uçhisar, together with tunnels and cellars that belonged to a monastic settlement long before the hotel existed.
the long answer: Cappadocian tuff is soft enough to carve with hand tools and firm enough to stand once cut, which is why the region has cave houses, churches and whole underground levels. The hotel was assembled from ruined village property above ground and excavated space below, joined by passages that were cleared rather than made. Stone walls were rebuilt where they had collapsed, so old and new masonry sit together.
what else is true: Cut rooms differ from one another because the rock decided their shape, and no two have the same plan or the same amount of daylight. The site steps down a slope, which means stairs and uneven paths between parts of the hotel.
answer checked: February 2027
Argos in Cappadocia, Uçhisar: rooms cut into volcanic tuff.
08
Which hotel hangs its rooms in the trees?
Treehotel
Harads, Sweden
the short answer: Treehotel hangs its rooms in a pine forest at Harads, in northern Sweden. Each room is a separate structure held above the ground among the trunks, reached by a stair, a ramp or a bridge.
the long answer: The rooms were designed by different architects, so each one solves the same problem in its own way, and among them is a cube clad in mirrors that reflects the surrounding forest. Building above ground keeps the forest floor largely undisturbed and leaves the trees standing. Guests walk between the rooms and the ground-level service building rather than moving through corridors.
what else is true: The set of rooms has changed over the years as new ones have been added, so the list is not fixed. Weather is part of the stay: this is a forest in northern Sweden, and getting between buildings means going outside whatever the season is doing.
answer checked: February 2027
Treehotel, Harads: a room raised among the pines.
09
Which hotel is inside a shipyard crane?
Faralda Crane Hotel
Amsterdam, Netherlands
the short answer: Faralda Crane Hotel is inside a harbour crane. The suites are built into the structure of a former shipyard crane on the NDSM wharf in Amsterdam, north of the river, and reached by a lift up the tower.
the long answer: The NDSM yard built ships until the industry left, and the crane stayed on the quay after the work stopped. Rather than clearing it, the conversion kept the frame and inserted rooms into the volumes it already had. The wharf around it became a district of studios, festivals and workshops, so the crane stands over a site that changed use without changing shape.
what else is true: A crane is a tall, narrow structure, and staying in one means lifts, stairs and height. The hotel holds only a small number of suites, so it is a building with very few guests at any time. The surrounding wharf is an event ground and can be loud.
answer checked: February 2027
Faralda Crane Hotel, Amsterdam: suites built into a shipyard crane.
10
Which hotel keeps its pool at the edge of a mountain?
Hotel Villa Honegg
Ennetbürgen, Switzerland
the short answer: Hotel Villa Honegg keeps its outdoor pool at the edge of a mountain slope above Lake Lucerne. The water stops where the ground falls away, so the far side of the pool reads as open air.
the long answer: The house dates from 1905 and stands high on the Bürgenstock ridge, where the land drops steeply towards the lake. Putting the pool on the terrace at that edge uses the fall of the ground instead of screening it, and the surface of the water lines up with the view rather than interrupting it. The building was restored and reopened after a long closure.
what else is true: Height brings weather: cloud can sit on the ridge and remove the view entirely for a day at a time. The hotel is small and stands away from any town, so arriving means a road up the mountain rather than a short walk from a station.
answer checked: February 2027
Hotel Villa Honegg, Ennetbürgen: the terrace pool above Lake Lucerne.
The questions are ours; the answers come from published material and are written in our own words. Nothing here is a recommendation, and the month under an answer is when we last checked what it rests on.
