Shopping, sweetie dahling?

I was going to write about our room at the Charles Hotel (we stayed there during the time of massage and headcheese), and particularly about the fabulous piece of art that dominated one wall. But then I did a little Googling and found this NYT article. That guy is in our room! And that's the art!

The rest of the article is worth reading; it's about the fact that upscale hotels have figured out they can make some cash on the side by making their furniture and accessories available for guests to buy. One the one hand, it's a great way to end up with a little extra on the tab--and it strengthens customer loyalty (the guy who loves your mattress enough to drop 2K on it is more likely to want to sleep in your hotel again).

On the other hand, though, I have to wonder whether it changes the way designers (or their clients) are thinking about the way they furnish boutique hotels. Now it's not "what looks cool and funky and fits with the tone of the brand?" but "will this appeal to enough people that they'll want to buy it? Can we sell enough to make it worthwhile?"

Oh, and note that the article says Doug negotiated and bought the picture. Yet it was hanging in our room last week. So either he didn't collect it yet, or there's a crate full of them in the basement. ("Well, Doug, I dunno ... it's a one-of-a-kind piece ... I guess we could let you have it for ... $1250?")

Anyway, like I know anything about design. Unlike Di Overton of Designer's Block, whose blog I stumbled upon the other day. I want to go shopping with her ... "Sweetie, dahling!!"