hotel max

with denise corso design

Stepping out of the drizzly, chilly marine air common to Seattle into the intimate warmth of the Hotel Max is a small pleasure. You observe the wet and sometimes dark scene outside from the cozy lobby or from the varied guestrooms while pondering the artistic expression from local artists. The Max is a celebration of the various ways art contemplates and documents our lives.

The corridors are photography galleries presenting the works of individual photographers on each floor. Guests remember which room they are in not by the number but the image that confronts when they enter. It could be a Paris train station, Courtney Love performing with Hole, denuded mannequins in a storefront or Darth Vader playing the fiddle.

In the rooms, there’s small to large impressions of life both very real and abstract. Over thirty artists have used various media from oil paints to wax, watercolor to collage to depict their worlds. Staying in each guestroom is an experience communing with that particular world. It’s an experience that changes with every new stay at the hotel, reflective one time, adventurous another, a further time soaked in sensuousness.

This experience is enhanced by the interior of the hotel. The colors are dark and warm punctuated by highlights of bright red and orange. The lighting is like intense candle points causing subtle flickers. All elements work together to heighten the cozy contemplative feel of the hotel and its art.