We’ve all nabbed a notepad and pen from a fancy hotel and thrown it in a junk drawer at home, never to look at it again. But take a leaf out of LA-based artist Michael McGregor’s new book Room Service — a compilation of more than 100 colourful Hockney-esque illustrations on hotel stationery from around the world. Featuring The Ritz Carlton, Chateau Marmont and even our very own Claridge’s (see opposite for some inspiration on which to steal next. We’re after the Madonna Inn’s perfect pink notepad). When ES Magazine catches up with McGregor, we find he is sick in bed in a Paris hotel — arguably there are less chic places to be poorly.
ES: How are you feeling?
MM: Horrible. It’s so cold here.
We’re here to talk about your book Room Service, so… what is your typical room service order?
If it’s breakfast, definitely an omelette, orange juice, grapefruit juice, coffee. Maybe some yoghurt. And if it’s night-time, it’s usually a bottle of wine and burger and fries.
The book is a triumph. Did you draw on site in the hotel or take the stationary home and draw from memory?
It’s a mix. Sometimes it was in bed in a hotel or maybe on a balcony or a café in the same city. At other points, it was just when I was bored at home.
Where did the idea come from?
I guess I liked the interrelation between the masthead (a very classy rigid logotype) paired with a loose style of drawing. I think there’s something nice in the tension. Also, you get a lot more context through the type and the location and all that kind of stuff. I think on regular paper you don’t get that same connection. There’s something about setting it in a place which allows your mind to wander a little more.
Tell us about the most incredible hotel you’ve stayed in?
There’s a hotel in Big Sur in California called Deetjen’s and it’s magical. It’s been around for like 100 years. They’re just these tiny little wooden cabins in the middle of the ancient redwood forests. Every room has a fireplace and it feels very mystical and beautiful. You feel like you’re in the 1850s. It has the most amazing charm.
What’s been the worst?
Years ago, I spent a few days on Ko Bu Bu, a tiny island in Thailand. I don’t know the name but it had like six small bungalows, each cute and rustic in that perfect Thai way. That said… when I came home one night after swimming in the bioluminescent algae, I saw a hairy spider the size of my fist hanging out leisurely on the wall. A moment later… a lizard the size of my foot… and moments after that, the lizard was no more. The spider had taken it down swiftly. Sleeping in that serene environment, bugs chirping, moonlight falling through the palms… was not as serene as hoped.
You grew up on the East Coast and you live in LA now. How do you find the lifestyle compares?
I just prefer to be in a sunny climate where there’s orange trees and orange blossom. Those things don’t exist on the East Coast. I also live in Athens.
How come you moved to Athens?
I love Greece. Recently, I had the opportunity to rent an apartment for a year and I just took it. Big contrast to Paris right now when it was 20 degrees in Athens and negative three here.
What is the best hotel or place you’ve been to in Greece?
Hydra for sure. It doesn’t have any cars and there’s something magical about the village there.
Do you prefer hotels or Airbnb/rentals?
I don’t really like Airbnbs. Ten years ago they were okay but now they’re all the same, like anti-design, stupid cheesy tourist shit. I’d rather stay in a hotel. In Greece, I rent houses through somebody I know. Those are more homey, which I like.
You quit your more corporate job in your 30s and pivoted into the art world. How did you find that change?
I guess I knew that if I wasn’t going to put all my efforts into making visual art I would probably regret it. And so when I quit my job and moved to Mexico, I was just trying to immerse myself in my work and explore different things.
What prompted the move to Mexico?
I had a radio show in New York with a guy named Gerónimo Giménez (he’s Mexican). We started going to Mexico a lot. I befriended his friends and they all kept saying to me, you’re obviously moving here. So I did, to Mexico City.
If you could have an exhibition of your work anywhere in the world, where would that be?
A city that I haven’t exhibited in that I really would like to is Seoul — it’s a very modern and ancient place, it has its own very unique energy there.
What is your favourite piece from this collection?
Impossible to say. They are all my children (I don’t have any children, so even more so!) but I really enjoy the meta feeling this pair of lamps from Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle gives. Ludwig Bemelmans hand painted all the lamps and murals there, while living there. He’s an inspiration, and it felt fitting to render those lamps quickly on Carlyle paper while sitting in the bar, listening to the piano player.
You’ve compared your style to Hockney’s — why is Hockney a big inspiration for you?
Well, Hockney is British, but I would consider him more of a Californian artist. I feel like if he’d stayed in the UK, his work would have been a lot different than how it evolved. And I always thought that if I had stayed on the East Coast, then it would be kind of the same. Dark greens and greys are the environment and in Mexico, LA and Athens, it’s omnipresent sun and bougainvillea and the colours are much brighter and more open than in Paris, London or New York.
Which hotel has the chicest stationary?
Chateau Marmont is quite good. The Ritz London and the Ritz in Paris are both pretty good and there’s a place in the South of France called Hotel La Ponche in Saint-Tropez that’s also pretty good.
What’s next for you?
The book comes out soon and there’s an exhibition in LA, then I’m working on shows in New York and Berlin.
Is there anything else you collect on your travels?
Bar coasters — I quite like the ones from Harry’s Bar in Paris.
