Thanks to the growing art, music, and fine dining scene, Calgary has developed as Alberta’s cultural hub. Sitting at the center of this young and rapidly growing city is Hotel Arts. As Calgary’s first boutique hotel of it’s kind, it serves as a great downtown location for taking in what the city has to offer. By combining the white hat service Calgarians are legendary for with beautiful fine art in a luxury environment the team at Hotel Arts in Calgary have put together a destination that is truly unique.
When walking into the Hotel Arts in Calgary, it immediately feels like you’ve stepped into the foyer of a museum or gallery rather than a hotel. The lobby features an open space filled with comfortable couches centered around a large and inviting fire place. As if this wasn’t enough, the walls are then lined with a varied selection of art work that has been carefully curated to set just the right mood. After spending a few minutes in the lobby, it’s easy to get lost in the and forget that you’ve come to a hotel in the first place.
The hotel’s staff was the right level of warm and friendly that you’d expect from a luxury experience. More importantly for us though, they took the extra time to engage with Zoe and make us feel like our doggy was welcome at the property too. A lot of properties that advertise their pet friendliness are really more pet tolerant than friendly, but that clearly wan’t the case here. After checking in and heading up to our room, we were please to find that the arts theme continued through the whole property. The hotel featured everything from wall art to lamps and fixtures that were crafted by local and international artists.
When we finally made it to our room we found the space to be both chic and inviting. The bed was extremely comfortable and luxurious and the room was well appointed. There was enough space to really relax and spread out and the room also featured a comfortably large desk to use as a work space.
In addition to providing a wonderful environment to highlight Calgary’s locals artists, the team at Hotel Arts have also assembled a crack team to showcase the cities culinary arts. With two restaurants on property, you can definitely find something that will please and surprise your palate. For dinner we decided to try out their signature restaurant, Raw Bar by Duncan Ly. Ranked as one of the top 50 restaurants in Canada, Raw Bar features Vietnamese cuisine with locally sourced Canadian ingredients. The decor inside the restaurant was consistent with the rest of the hotel, while managing to succeed in creating a separate and unique space.
The real stand out at Raw Bar though is the creative and well thought out menu. As an appetizer, the Angus Beef Carpaccio was superbly delicate and did a fantastic job of highlighting the quality of the locally raised Alberta Beef. The Stir Fried Black Bean Noodles were a fun and tasty spin on one of my favorite dishes, while the Lemon Grass Coconut Chicken Curry was absolutely sinful. From cocktails to dessert we found each component of our meal to be well-planned and expertly executed.
If you are looking for a more casual meal, or a great brunch, the Hotel Arts features a second restaurant called The Yellow Door Bistro. The brainchild of Executive Chef Duncan Ly, Yellow Door seeks to serve bistro style foods with a twist. We had the opportunity to indulge in their Sunday Brunch and found it absolutely delightful. Served buffet-style, you’ll find all the brunch staples alongside something truly special. Each day the bistro’s chef prepares a unique surprise served inside Le Creuset Mini Cocottes. On the day we were there I was delighted to open the mini pot and find delicately assembled pancakes topped with a warm bananas and nuts. Yellow Door Bistro is open all day and offers lunch and dinner as well.
