The UNLOCK ART™ programme - created under the direction of Le Méridien Cultural Curator Jérôme Sans - is one component of the brand’s commitment to provide an element of discovery to every guest touchpoint and is designed to engage guests in the hotel’s local cultural scene to awaken their creative curiosity.
Le Méridien is transforming the Arrival Experience to stimulate the guest’s senses. Highlighting UNLOCK ARTTM as one of the four components: Transitional Portal, Sensory Experience and Elevated Experience. At check-in, our guests will receive a room key that opens more than just their guestroom door, it opens access to a contemporary culture experience.
Under the guidance of Le Méridien’s Cultural Curator Jérôme Sans, Plaza Athenée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien selected 100 Tonson Gallery to be the hotel’s official UNLOCK ART™ partner. Hotel guests now have a room key that opens more than JUST doors, but doubles as VIP access to 100 Tonson Gallery where they also receive an exclusive exhibition guidebook on entry. The Hotel’s unique room key is designed by Michael Lin and is one in the series of a collectibles in Le Meridien’s UNLOCK ART™ KEYCARD COLLECTION.
Sight: The UNLOCK ART programme is centered around the artist-designed key card. Our guests can use the card to access an experience at a nearby contemporary cultural centre, and the programme builds anticipation for the guest to collect all Le Méridien key cards designed by LM100 TM artists.
Our Partner 100 Tonson Gallery has an established reputation for being one of the most significant private art spaces in Bangkok. Works on display range from painting, sculpture, photography and installations, to new media and conceptual-based art created by international artists and both established and emerging Thai artists.
“Le Méridien brand aims to reinterpret the hotel experience, with a goal of breaking the mold and awakening our guests’ curiosity,”said Georges Baurin, General Manager of Plaza Athenée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien.“UNLOCK ART™ is a unique programme that reimagines the keycard—a hotel convention—as a collectible piece of art and provides special access to cutting-edge cultural organizations around the world, such as 100 Tonson Gallery.”
The keycards have been created by Michael Lin. One of Le Méridien’s first UNLOCK ART artists, born in Japan, raised in Taipei and Los Angeles, Michael Lin creates floor painting of large-scale floral motifs inspired by traditional Taiwanese textile designs. Lin’s installations are always site-specific, conceived distinctly for each space.
All Le Méridien hotels worldwide are partnering with a leading forward-thinking cultural institution in their respective locations, giving guests complimentary access. Amongst others, Le Méridien UNLOCK ART™ partners include San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts, Shanghai’s Museum of Contemporary Arts, Paris’s Palais de Tokyo, Vienna’s Secession, Monte Carlo’s Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Kuala Lumpur’s Gallery Taksu, Bangkok’s Thailand Creative & Design Center, India’s Osho International Meditation Resort, Phuket’s Butterfly Garden and Insect World, and Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona.
Jérôme Sans, a founder of UNLOCK ART™ programme, has achieved a devoted international following as Director of ULLENS in Beijing, teacher (Central St. Martins; Milwaukee Institute of Visual Arts); art critic; author; musician and arts provocateur. As Cultural Curator for Le Méridien, Sans is responsible for forging relationships with emerging artists and UNLOCK ART™ institutions.
Others Arrival Experiences:
Transitional Portal helps guests to transition from the outside world into the world of Le Méridien with a quick change of atmosphere via visual + audio clues. A 24-hours soundtrack curated by LM100TM members and musician / composer Henri Scars Struck plays at the entrance. The sound rotates on a 6-hour time frame to identify different periods of the day to the guest. The entire experience will RESET the guest’s mind.
Sensory Experience in the lobby involves Sound, Scent + Light and creates a distinct atmosphere. We have partnered with Le Labo to create our signature scent, LM01. The scent is structured around cedar and surrounded by iris, frankincense and musk. The scent will soon be sold online and in our hotel. Our signature sound, which is international yet complex with depth and rhythm, was created exclusively for Le Méridien by Sony /BMG. The 400+ tracks rotate throughout the year though our partnership with DMX. A Sony / BMG CD or downloadable playlist will soon be sold online. Natural daylight, soft lighting and candlelight create an ambiance to enhance this Sensory Experience.
Elevated Experience in the elevator activates the senses to transform a mundane ride into something that sparks conversation and thought. Henri Scars Struck, LM100 member + Grammy Award-winning musician, composed 24 hours of sound on 6-hour rotation. Sounds include water, forest, market + nature.
About Le Méridien:
Le Méridien brand, currently represented by 110 properties in 50 countries, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) in November 2005. Since then, Le Méridien has gone through a brand revitalization, which included appointing a full-time Cultural Curator – French arts-provocateur Jérôme Sans – and transforming numerous guest touch points, thus brining unique and interactive experiences to its guests. With close to 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Le Méridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings. Plans call for dynamic expansion of Le Méridien hotels and resorts within the next five years, concentrating in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia-Pacific, including destinations such as India, Thailand and China. Le Méridien recently opened new hotels in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Shimei Bay (China), will open in Dallas and Philadelphia in the coming months, and has recently signed new hotel deals in Taipei, Xiamen, Chongqing Nan’an, and Qingdao (China). For more information, please visit www.lemeridien.com.
Plaza Athenée Bangkok, A Royal Méridien Media Contact:
Nareerat Thongsook / nareerat.thongsook@
