The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas has gone all in with its newly unveiled Sky Villa.
Plenty of hotels give a demure nod to original contemporary art, but on the nod scale, the two-story Empathy Suite is a headbanging display from renowned British artist Damien Hirst.
Hirst and his peers earned heaps of headlines in the US in 1999 as part of a controversial exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art called “Sensation: Young British Artists from the Saatchi Collection.”
He designed the Palms’ new Sky Villa, unveiled on March 1, in collaboration with Bentel & Bentel, and the 9,000 square-foot space features six original works as well as custom furniture and textiles featuring Hirst motifs.
Think bull sharks marinating in formaldehyde, a pill cabinet filled with diamonds and skeletal and taxidermied big-game fish suspended over a bar filled with medical waste. It’s as visually arresting as it sounds – and more palatable.
Cool chrome and gray marble are offset with eye-catching colors in the form of butterflies and pill capsules. The lights of Vegas add another vivid layer through floor-to-ceiling windows.
At $200,000 for a two-night stay, the suite is touted as one of the world’s most expensive hotel accommodations. It will also be reserved for use by million-dollar casino players.
Stays include 24-hour butler service, chauffeured car service, A-list access to on-site entertainment, a private Palms art tour and more.
The two-story villa is part of a $690 million overhaul of the Palms Casino Resort that started in 2017 and is nearing completion.
