21c Museum Hotel Bentonville - American Contemporary Art

In 2011, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened. It is the first large American art museum opened since 1974 and is the project of a Walmart heiress who spent a number of years amassing a collection of fine art and arranging it in the museum located in the family’s sleepy hometown of Bentonville.

Now the town is attracting art fans and there are a number of “art hotels” opening to cater for them. 21c is probably the best. And don’t take my word for it, TripAdvisor voted 21c “The #1 Hot New Hotel in the US”. The hotel’s contemporary art collection features a metal tree with basketball hoops for branches, a sculpture of Batman, and a giant red penguin outside (a reference to an old joke about being “black and white and red all over” maybe?).

Your avant-garde room is the quirky work of designer Deborah Berke. As well as the permanent fixtures there is an exhibition space that welcomes the hottest art talents around to show their work. The hotel is also the home to popular restaurant, The Hive.