Art Hotels

Tjuvholmen was once a small islet where Oslo's petty criminals were said to gather. Today it is a polished waterfront district, and The Thief takes its name from that past with a straight face.

Art is the organising idea. Works from a private collection hang in corridors, rooms and the bar, and the selection changes over time. The Astrup Fearnley Museum, in its Renzo Piano building, is a few steps away.

Rooms are dark, calm and well made, many with balconies over the fjord. A rooftop terrace looks across the harbour to the Opera House. It suits a city break where galleries come first.

In the mid-2000s, a group of artists, illustrators and designers from several countries were handed the rooms of this Copenhagen hotel and told to make each one their own. The result is a building where no two rooms look alike.

Some rooms are playful. Others are graphic, spare or strange. Guests often pick by photograph, and a few return to try another. The hotel is near City Hall Square, so Tivoli, the central station and the Latin Quarter are on foot.

Beneath the colour it is a straightforward city hotel, practical and well placed for the centre. That mix is the appeal.

Viura rises out of a small wine village in the Rioja Alavesa. Its rooms are stacked like offset boxes, a sharp modern shape set against old stone houses and the church tower next door.

The architecture is the artwork here. Inside, concrete and glass frame views of vineyards, and wine-barrel details appear throughout. The rooftop terrace is the best place to watch the light go across the hills.

Most guests come for the wine country. Bodegas large and small sit within a short drive, and the restaurant keeps its focus on the region. It is a quiet base with a very loud silhouette.