A discreet and elegant art hotel in Merano
In the center of Merano, in the posh heart of the old town center of one of the prettiest small towns in the Alps, is the Imperialart Boutique & Design Hotel. The mini-boutique hotel features only 12 rooms and suites, with breathtaking mountain views and hospitality of the highest caliber. The hotel, the brainchild of couple Alfred Strohmer and Jutta von den Benken, enhanced the historic building, leaving the 1899 Art Nouveau facade and interior staircase untouched. The rooms featured interventions by three Merano artists and one fashion designer, Elisabeth Hölzl, Ulrich Egger, and Marcello Jori, internationally renowned local artists. In 2020, Merano fashion designer Dimitri (Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos), created an additional room with architect Joachim Clemens; for this design, Dimitri and Clemens picked up elements from the former Café Imperial. Architect Harald Stuppner, on the other hand, designed the renovation of the building, keeping the original Art Nouveau charm intact, and adding balconies on the back side, to immerse oneself in Merano life.
Discover the Icaro hotel, an art hotel in Dolomites
Rooms and suites for sweet dreams
The 12 rooms and suites range from 25 to 40 square meters and offer the feeling of sleeping in a work of art. All rooms boast furnishings and finishings that create pleasing contrasts between past and present. Elisabeth Hölzl’s Room 31, for example, features the original furnishings of the former Hotel Bristol, with a concrete wall that contrasts with the retro ensemble of the room. Or, in room 11 by Marcello Jori, white walls with etched crystals create a minimalist and refined ambiance. Again, in the rooms designed by Ulrich Egger, materials such as iron, wire and wood are mixed. In the Imperial room, Elizabeth Holzl combines Eero Saarinen’s Tulip chairs, original from the age, with super-soft carpeting in red, lilac and pink tones again.
On the other hand, the atmosphere of Merano’s old spa comes alive in the Penthouse Suite with armchairs from the 1960s, also by Holzl. In Room 32, instead, again designed by Jori, mysterious figure inlays and curiously shaped furniture dominate. Finally, on the rooftop terrace of Paradise-Loft 42, by Ulrich Egger, there’s a relaxation nook with a large Jacuzzi and daybeds with 360-degree views of Merano. The ideal time to visit Merano and its famous Christmas market is from November 26th to December 6th. Imperialart.it
