By Deborah Frank
The Met Museum’s famed steps will next week see its biggest night of the year, The Met Gala.
A new kind of cultural concierge is emerging, one that trades generic VIP perks for meaningful access to the world’s most revered institutions. Increasingly, leading hotels are formalizing affiliations with major museums, offering guests priority entry, private tours, and curated extensions of blockbuster exhibitions. The result is a stay that feels like an invitation behind the velvet rope of culture itself.
The Loews Regency New York is deepening its own cultural credentials through a partnership with The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The initiative expands the hotel’s “Local by Loews Hotels” platform, designed to connect guests with the authentic character of its Upper East Side neighborhood. Limited to just 10 guests per session, private themed tours are led by The Met’s museum educators and begin after the museum closes to the public.
An installation view from last year’s “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” at the Costume Institute.
The after-hours format offers something increasingly rare in New York: space and silence. The experience feels almost conspiratorial. You can wander near-empty galleries as a curator unpacks fashion in Renaissance portraiture, the hush as memorable as the art.
“This program reflects our commitment to connecting our guests with the very best of New York City’s cultural offerings,” says John Maibach, managing director of Loews Regency New York. “Our guests are already frequent visitors to The Met, located a short distance from our doors, so we believe this new offering will be something they will really enjoy.”
The Kensington, in London, offers priority access to the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Across the Atlantic, in London’s South Kensington, just steps from Exhibition Road’s museum mile, check into The Kensington, with its townhouse warmth and drawing-room charm, then slip over to the Victoria and Albert Museum for priority access arranged through the hotel.
The Marie Antoinette–themed afternoon tea at The Kensington. Photo by Justin De Souza.
The recent Marie Antoinette exhibition delivered powdered wigs, panniers, and political theater told through silk and diamonds. Back at the hotel, the narrative continued with a Marie Antoinette–themed afternoon tea: jewel-box pastries, pastel confections, and just enough Versailles excess to feel transportive rather than theatrical. It’s less package, more progression, the gallery experience extending gracefully to the table.
The latest exhibition in the V&A’s ongoing exploration of fashion as cultural history is its retrospective on Elsa Schiaparelli, reinforcing the museum’s role as a global authority on design. The show opened on March 28 and remains on view until November 8.
“The partnership with the V&A grew very naturally,” says Bernadette Doyle Gallagher, chairman of The Doyle Collection and owner of The Kensington. “We’ve always believed our hotels should be part of the cultural life of their cities, and the V&A is such an inspiring example of that in London. I’ve long had a personal love for the museum; for the way it welcomes both children and older generations to explore cultural icons. The Kensington is a natural place to continue that conversation, giving our guests a way to engage with art and design beyond the gallery walls.”
Image 4: Portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli, by Man Ray, 1933 (Credit: 2025 Man Ray 2015 Trust. DACS, London. Photo Collection SFMOMA. The Helen Crocker Russell and William H. and Ethel W. Crocker Family Funds purchase)
Image 5: Schiaparelli Haute Couture autumn/winter 2024 (Credit: Giovanni Giannoni. Photo courtesy Patrimoine Schiaparelli, Paris)
KENSINGTON PHOTOGRAPHS:
Courtesy of The Doyle Collection
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