Four Seasons Lisbon takes artsy travelers for ride

Vhils and Pixel Pancho collaboration, Lisbon

Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon is taking foot to bring its guests closer to the local culture of the Portuguese capital.

In addition to street art, The Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon Street Art Tour will show off tapestries, sculptures, paintings and more located both outside and within the hotel. Travelers expect hotels to provide them with tailored, unique experiences of the local culture, and the tour will provide that while also emphasizing the hotel’s role in the country’s art scene.

“Lisbon is the city of seven hills, so doing a street art tour on a vintage side car allows guests to get an overview of the city – the different neighborhoods (namely the more traditional: Alfama & Castelo, the more ‘buzzing’ Chiado & Principe Real) whilst also getting a feeling for the city’s exploding art scene,” said Diana Castello Branco, public relations and communications director at Four Seasons, Lisbon. “The fact that the hotel owns one of the country’s largest and most important private collections of contemporary art in Portugal made this promotion perfect for our guests.”

Wild in the streets
The Street Art Tour will take place in partnership with Underdogs, a cultural platform in Lisbon that aims to connect the public with the local art scene and helps connect artists, exhibitors and other key players in the local art scene. Lisbon is known for its art culture, which extends to its cobbled or tiled streets, terracotta rooftops and the color of its buildings, making it an ideal location for an art-themed promotion.

Lisbon

Among the stops in the tour include a chiseled face on the side of a building by renowned street artist Vhils and a 40-foot drawing of Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral by Brazilian artist Nunca. In addition to Vhils and Nunca, the tour will showcase works by artists and collectives including PixelPancho, How & Nosm, ±MaisMenos±, Okuda, Bicicleta Sem Freio, Clemens Behr and Sainer.

Priced at around $350 for two, the guided tour will last approximately four hours and will take guests through a number of attractive and famous Lisbon neighborhoods and roads on a vintage sidecar.

Street art tour

In addition to the street art, the hotel is also exhibiting its extensive collection of Portuguese art, which showcases some of the country’s most acclaimed artists, including Almada Negrieros, Pedro Leitão, Estrla Faria and Querubim Lapa. The collection has been accumulated over the decades, beginning with the hotel’s grand opening in 1959, and includes curated and commissioned pieces.

While the Street Art Tour will help guests appreciate Lisbon’s art history, the hotel’s collection will position itself as a part of that institution. By showcasing its own role in Lisbon’s culture of arts, Four Seasons will likely strike consumers as a genuine brand with heritage that competing hoteliers may not be able to offer.

“[The promotion] shows how a hotel dating back to 1959 can keep up with modern times,” Ms. Castello Branco said. “It is the perfect way to bring together a more classic hotel with an edgier, “cooler” side of Lisbon. “There is much talk about millennials, for instance, and I’m certain that they will find this the perfect way to spend their Saturday morning in Lisbon.”

Lisbon street art

Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon is also enhancing the experience with a free iPad art mobile application, which will include a number of interactive features and other tools to improve the user’s experience. The component is in keeping with the brand’s focus on digital and demonstrates an understanding of consumer habits.

Arts and travel
Four Seasons often finds creative ways to connect its patrons with the local culture.

For example, Four Seasons Hotel Austin, TX, is ensuring guests are immersed in the city’s musical offerings with its latest initiative.

Austin is often called the “live music capital of the world,” so the hotel is fittingly curating a series of Spotify playlists for its guests. Travelers expect luxury hotels to have strong ties with the city, and offering a sampling of music is a way to do just that while also connecting with consumers on a deeper level (see story).

European branches of other hotels have also sought to educate guests on local art traditions.

For instance, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London has sculpted an art aficionado experience for its hotel guests with the help of The Royal Academy of Arts.

The art-themed package was designed to take advantage of the hotel’s prime location within London’s cultural district and will focus on The Royal Academy’s new exhibition, “Painting Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse.” Packages focusing on the art on view in a locale are common, as such programs allows guests to experience cultural elements of the place they are visiting, thus enriching the time spent (see story).

“At many Four Seasons hotels and resorts guests have an opportunity to enjoy impressive private art collections especially curated to complement the architectural and cultural settings unique to each hotel,” Ms. Castello Branco said. “In the case of Lisbon, guests can admire works by distinguished local contemporary artists that were commissioned especially by the owners for the Hotels opening in 1959.   

“In this sense, it is a way of immersing travelers in the local culture, which is also so important, especially for us in a city-break hotel where guests don’t normally stay for weeks on holiday, but rather short breaks,” she said. “So, it is a unique way of getting them to relate and embrace local culture.”

“In our case, the hotel is also very close to the heart of Lisbonites and the Portuguese in general because of this art collection – it is an iconic hotel locally not only because of the famous Portuguese architect (Portfirio Pardal Monteiro), but also the artists commissioned for the hotel’s opening: Almada Negreiros, Pedro Leitão, Sarah Afonso, Querubim Lapa and more.”

Final Take
Forrest Cardamenis, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

from Luxury Daily » Travel and hospitality http://www.luxurydaily.com/four-seasons-lisbon-takes-artsy-travelers-for-ride/
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