“Absolutely every knickknack, tchotchke, painting, and piece of furniture has been personally procured and curated by me,” says B-52’s singer Kate Pierson about two of the three hotels she owns, Lazy Meadow and Lazy Cabin, both in the Catskills. For example: Heissner garden gnomes, macramé owls, vintage pottery, and thrift-store paintings and prints. “My thrill [in stocking Lazy Meadow, built in 1952] was to hit the local vintage stores and auctions where I found a treasure trove of artwork, a lot of which were original Woodstock School of Art pieces,” she says. She combined those with midcentury-modern furniture finds scooped up with bandmate Fred Schneider on tour. For Lazy Cabin (her partner Monica Coleman’s former abode), she honored the Woodstock area’s ’20s and ’30s cabin architecture but added local artwork and comfy couches. Her western outpost, Lazy Desert, consists of six vintage Airstreams, parked near Joshua National Park in California’s Mojave Desert.
Cardozo South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida
The Art Deco façade of Cardozo South Beach.
Photo: Ambientes Visuales SasWhile she’s best known for providing vocals to the Miami Sound Machine during the ’80s, Gloria Estefan’s current passion is operating the 41-room Cardozo South Beach with her husband Emilio (the band’s leader). The Art Deco gem, which they revamped last year, is snug on Ocean Drive in the Art Deco District. It was designed by Henry Hohauser in 1939 and features curves and lines in sync with the architectural style, such as shimmery-tiled ceiling-height headboards in the guest rooms and herringbone walls in the baths and on the floors. The couple has also owned the 94-room Costa d’Este in Vero Beach since 2008.
Hotel Rival, Stockholm, Sweden
Ulvaeus is not the only ABBA member to become a hotelier. Benny Andersson’s Hotel Rival debuted on right on Mariatorget square on Stockholm’s Södermalm Island in 2003, and is outfitted with Mats Theselius armchairs, a Gunnar Asplund desk chair, faux-fur throws, and offbeat art in the guest rooms. An artfully arranged wall of gold clothes hangers doubles as a functional open-air closet, and enlarged black-and-white photography adorns the walls. Patios flaunt window boxes bursting with flowers, when in season, and faux nailheads adorn the white soaking tub in the bathrooms. Within the shell of a former cinema are not only 99 hotel rooms but also a cocktail bar, a café, a bistro, and bar-friendly food plus live music at Watson’s Bar.