Overview
If you're a fan of Chinese Australian artist Zhong Chen, here's some good news. You can sleep with his works. The Art Series Hotel Group's latest venture is a five-storey, 100-room number dedicated to him.
Named The Chen, the hotel is in Box Hill, 14 kilometres east of Melbourne, within Whitehorse Towers, which, at 36 storeys, is the tallest development outside of the Victorian capital's CBD.
Architects Peddle Thorp have taken care of the design, inspired by Chen's King Fu series and, as you'd expect, fun, bold, bright colours rule. There's a bunch of digital archival fine art editions of Chen's works, as well as a stack of originals, including Rooster, fitting because Chen was born in the Year of the Rooster (1969) and the hotel will open in the Year of the Rooster (that's this year).
There's a yum cha restaurant, as well as a gym, events space and rooftop pool (which is, unfortunately, only for guest use). You can also count on the Art Series' usual arty facilities and activities, including tours, libraries, television channels and documentaries, as well as Art Series-branded smart cars and Lekker bicycles available for guests.
Image: Lucas Allen