Taking away the hotel visits that come with work for a second, I can honestly only count on one hand the number of hotels I’ve booked for myself over the last couple of years. And I travel – a lot. The thing is, like just about everyone else, I’ve been worshipping at the altar of Air BnB. The benefits of doing so are well known so not worth stating. But if there’s one spot fighting the cause for hotel stays right now, it’s Artist Residence. The small boutique hotel brand – which now has locations in Cornwall, Brighton and London – is the one the established names should be afraid of and young hoteliers, Justin Salisbury and wife Charlotte Newey are the truly the ones to watch.
So what’s all the fuss about? “We get asked this a lot and I always struggle to answer,” Charlotte says. “I always ask our guests why they chose us and it’s mostly word of mouth or that they’re looking for something different so I guess we’ve been able to attract an audience of people that don’t want to stay in your run of the mill kind of place.”
It hasn’t all been plain-sailing though. Here’s the backstory. Almost a decade ago, Justin’s mum acquired an old guesthouse in Regency Square in Brighton, but before she had time to do it up, she was severely injured in a car accident. Unsurprisingly, standards suffered and guests made the point known through a series of painfully honest reviews on Trip Advisor. At 20, Justin stepped in and took over the business, bringing, then girlfriend Charlie along for the ride too. The place needed a total refurb but the pair didn’t have the money so instead, posted an ad on Gumtree calling artists to offer their services in exchange for board and lodging. And so Artist Residence was born. Their hotels are now galleries for a diverse range of urban, graphic and street artists including Tammy Mackay, Dan Hillier, Pure Evil, Dan Baldwin and the Connor Brothers.
Today the atmosphere is relaxed and refreshingly warm – something the pair pride themselves on. Walk in on any given day and you’re greeted by hipsters behind the bar (FYI – the cocktails are not like anything you’ve ever tasted before) and a slew of twenty-somethings are casually waiting in the wings to wait on you hand and foot. And the interiors aren’t too shabby either. Think distressed wooden floors and exposed bricks played off against a gleaming Smeg fridge and a snazzy espresso machine dispensing complimentary shots. Most rooms come with a chunking chamois-clad sofa and leather armchair and an equally impressive king-sized four posted bed, not to mention the tea chests for bedside tables, old school angepoise lights and a vintage metal locker serving as a wardrobe. Naturally, art abounds. I spotted an antler chandelier by Innes Cole in one room, a glitter-coated great white shark in another, oh and a Banksy-style mock-up of the Queen vacuuming the hat of a Buckingham Palace guard. The best part is that, as of this summer, many of the vintage furniture you’ll find in the hotel are now available to buy on the hotel’s website. Result.
We caught up with Charlie recently to find out more about the hotel’s journey, the creative process behind the décor, balancing motherhood and a 24/7 business and what’s next [hint: there’s another hotel on the way!].
THE ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE ARTIST RESIDENCE STORY: The hotel was launched by Justin’s mother. She was tragically hit by a bus in Brighton and was in a coma for two months afterwards. Fortunately, she’s recovered and teaching rehabilitation through art in Africa now. She’s an inspiration in her own right. It was only through her tragic accident that Justin literally stumbled into the hotel business otherwise he would have finished his degree and became an accountant! The story goes that when Justin went to Brighton to be beside his mother while she was in hospital he was standing on the doorstep of what was then The Malvern Hotel (now AR Brighton). Someone asked him if he had a room and he was like “yeah we do”. He managed to fill up the whole hotel that Saturday night by standing on the road outside the hotel and I think he got a buzz from there. Very quickly he realised that without doing some work to the run down place he could only fill up on Saturday nights so with no money he had to come up with a clever way to make an impact. He posted an advert on gumtree: “call to all artists: come and decorate your own room!” Once that went live he literally had hundreds of artists descend on the place painting on walls, floors and ceilings. Looking back, it was a little bit of a shambles but that’s literally how Artist Residence started!
ON BEING ON CHANNEL 5’S HOTEL INSPECTOR BEFORE THE REVAMP: It’s something we don’t usually talk about but watching it back is always a good reminder of just how far we’ve come – when we first started out we had a review on Trip Advisor saying that they had stayed in better squats! I remember when Justin told me he’d been asked to do The Hotel Inspector and that he was thinking ‘why not’. I probably look like a complete idiot on TV but to have someone like Alex Polizzi teach us is a once in a lifetime opportunity! I think Alex felt very sorry for Justin and made the hotel look a little better than it actually was. The show highlighted about three problems but actually there were thousands. Off camera she was super helpful and set up a lot of the systems that we still use today.
ON JOINING THE FAMILY BUSINESS: Justin and I met on the first day in halls at university! We started working together on the hotel because he’s very persuasive. Justin is very persuasive. I’d just finished my History of Art degree and he’d left uni earlier to look after the Brighton B&B after his mother’s accident. Having heard of an opportunity in Penzance, Justin called me asking if I was interested. Next thing I knew I was in Cornwall with no experience managing the interiors and a construction team setting up the next Artist Residence. Everybody loves staying in good hotels so I guess I had a natural interest in this field. Nowadays I don’t think I truly ever get to enjoy staying in hotels or eating in restaurants as I’m always looking at what other businesses are doing in case we should implement it in our own hotels!
GOING FROM THE BOTTOM OF TRIP ADVISOR TO THE TOP: It’s difficult to pinpoint exact changes we made that contributed to that. It was more like an accumulation of all the work we put into it. Think of it a bit like a ship that’s setting off – it takes a while to gather steam. I guess fundamentally, despite what anybody tells you, it always boils down to making lots of mistakes and learning from them. In the early days no-one was really paying attention to us so it was a good opportunity to practise!
THE ART TIE-IN WAS ALWAYS ON THE CARDS: Art has always been a massive part of the hotel. Brighton is such a vibrant and arty city and it seemed fitting to get local artists to decorate the bedrooms – in turn making the-then run-down hotel stand out from the crowd of beige walls, swirly brown carpets and chip-wood paper walls that were the typical style of the ‘Brighton sea-side guesthouse’. We still have the arty bedroom’s in Brighton with their original murals and stencils (although they are much more toned down than they used to be) but have since developed our own interiors of which art is a key part of our aesthetics. I also think it is so important to use art that is fitting to that location and to make guests smile. Today the art process is a little bit more organised than it used to be! We’ve recently worked with some really cool artists in Brighton to develop some new bedrooms like Maria Rivans, Fox and Charlie Anderson and we’re about to launch a new bar that features bespoke artwork from The Connor Brothers, which is really exciting. We work closely with Art Republic and The Lawrence Alkin Gallery to help curate the artwork that covers the walls in all the hotels.
ON THE DECORATING PROCESS: Every hotel is full of colour, atmosphere and artwork that we love – whether on the walls in frames or physically painted there. Justin and I have done all the interior design ourselves, with no professional training, and we’ve spent a long time building relationships with bespoke suppliers and scouring antique fairs and reclamation yards for unique pieces. We’ve tried to ensure that each hotel fits the atmosphere of its town and is authentic, homely and individual. Aside from the unique design aspects, I think quite often the basis of our own education has been down to common sense. We’ve experienced ourselves what makes a good hotel so we paid special focus to the guests experience e.g. simple light switches and power points by the side of the bed, comfort over aesthetics and if possible both! Since we made the furniture available to buy online, the response has been great. We’re always being asked where certain things are from so why not make it easier for the guests and add to the whole experience? We’ve worked hard to find the best suppliers and we pride ourselves on not being uber secretive about them. It’s also given us a great opportunity to give many of the artists we work with an additional space to sell their work.
ON THEIR GROWING EMPIRE: We never really went out to choose our Cornwall, London and Brighton locations; we stumbled across them by chance! We are trying to reduce the gap between London and Cornwall as it’s a 6-hour drive but so worth it when you get there. One of our main focuses has been to create a down to earth, fun and friendly experience. We learnt first-hand when we first started out (back when the hotel wasn’t so great) just how important first impressions are.
HOW THE HOTEL INDUSTRY IS CHANGING: The fundamental basics have been, and always will be, a great night’s sleep in a comfy bed but I think nowadays with the emergence of Airbnb people want more from hotels. The experience has become so much more important. Air BnB can provide a great room but you’ll never experience that amazing restaurant or bar where locals are eating and drinking. You don’t get the face time with great, welcoming staff who are on hand to help and offer tips on the local area. You can love the menu, the design, the added little extra’s in the room – but it’s the character and hospitality of the team working there that make all the difference.
THE HOTELS THAT STAND OUT FOR HER: We’re big fans of the Standard Hotels in the US. They’re really good at creating magical public spaces, restaurants and bars which I always find enchanting. I think one of the dangers of a “chain” or “collection” of hotels is to not have everything exactly the same once you’ve found the formula. The Pig Hotels have a great sense of identity and Robin Hutson has done extremely well flipping our connotations of a country house hotel and making it more down to earth.
ON THE RISE IN COMPETITION: It’s really difficult to say what sets us apart – there’s so much competition out there. I think something that we also need to consider when talking about choice is that much of this growth in choice has been because of the growth in consumers wanting more great places to eat, drink and sleep! I think there’s still room for a lot more players in the field of hotels but I like to say that the one thing that sets us apart is that we’re very authentic. Artist Residence is a small company and not only do myself and Justin have an input on literally every single detail but so do each and every one of the teams that work at AR. I think it’s very easy to look away from where you’re going with the business and start focusing on what others are doing. Don’t get me wrong, we absolutely love to stay at other places and “take away” ideas! That being said hotels aren’t the most mobile of businesses to change around. A lot of it is fixed into the building itself, its location and the things you can feel and touch. What you can have a say in is how you want guests to feel when they stay with you. Fundamentally this boils down to the people that work in the hotel. We’ve all been to places that have obviously spent loads of money on the fit out but the staff haven’t been trained properly. So frustrating!
ON RUNNING A BUSINESS AS A MOM: He’s the most amazing thing to happen to us but everything becomes so much harder work wise once you have a baby. No longer can we just camp on the building site or suddenly dash off to Cornwall at short notice without childcare. At first waking up in the middle of the night two or three times took its toll but really you just get used to it after a while. In many ways running our own business has advantages as it allows me to make my own table. That being said, it’s not like I can take it easy either! You’ve got to find a means to make things work once you have a baby. Usually in the evenings once Blake is asleep I’ll just carry on working. We don’t live very glamorous lifestyles but I’m happy. I suppose it all boils down to what people’s views of a work-life balance is. I feel like I have a great thing going and am forging my own path. I love spending time with family at weekends and I spend most week’s working alongside my which I have come to realise is a pretty rare thing. I also get lunch time visits from my 9month old son and if we travel to Penzance, he comes with us which I imagine in the modern working world is very lucky!
Prices start from £116 a night. Book through Mr & Mrs Smith here.