Guests at Houston's Hotel Derek can't help but notice the newest addition to the hotel's ongoing design evolution – a Texas-sized movie wall created on the side of the hotel's parking garage.
Turning the concrete wall into functional art made sense for the very cool and fun Hotel Derek, as they plan to show old western movies, romantic classics and DJ-timed music videos.
Inspired by Hotel Derek and designed and executed by local public artist Ken Goar, the western-themed movie wall spans three floors in height and took over a month to complete. The screen itself, measuring approximately 15 feet by 25 feet, is bordered by a cowboy rope and rests on a large-scale cow-patterned mural.
"This exterior artwork mirrors a lot of what the City of Houston is doing with outdoor murals, turning empty spaces into eye-catching works of art," said Shawn Gracey, general manager of Hotel Derek. "We had a great canvas to work with, and we feel the finished product is not only fun and functional but it really speaks to what the new Hotel Derek is all about."
In addition to the new movie wall, the entire pool area – dubbed SPLASH — has been restyled with an eye-catching graffiti wall and swanky daybeds in high contrast colours of black and cream. Guests can order a variety of items to sip and savour from the menu designed by Executive Chef Shannen Tune. The menu highlights include Tune's classic Inverted Grilled Cheese Panini, Chicken Caprese Sandwich, Hangover Burger and creative poolside treats like boozy popsicles in flavors of Blood Orange Margarita-sicle and Coconut Rum-sicle.
With our Nice Touch series, we’ll highlight the things that show a hotel endeavouring to provide guests that extra something to make their stay a bit easier or more memorable. Have you seen something that you think qualifies as a Nice Touch? Send it to us at news@ehotelier.net.
