Le Meridien: The experiences of the creative class

n Richard Florida, author of the business bestsellers The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class, has pointed out time and time again that world-class cities need to attract world-class creative talent if they want to remain competitive. Now, it appears that basic idea of the “creative class” is starting to trickle down into the corporate world, with more companies than ever before partnering with world-class designers and creative talent. Hotel brand Le Meridien has taken this a step further — the hotel has rounded up 100 of the world’s greatest cultural innovators and artists and asked them to help make the Le Meridien hotel experience as memorable as possible. The LM 100 includes a mix of painters and photographers, musicians and designers, chefs and architects – including two of my personal favorites: coffee impresario Andrea Illy and visionary chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

Anyway, to celebrate the LM 100, my colleagues at electricArtists have created a new Facebook application that enables fans of the Le Meridien experience to connect with fellow innovators: “Guests of Le Méridien are not tourists. They are travelers. They arenadventurers in the world of ideas. Le Méridien is to inspire our Guestsnto discover more than just a new destination. They discover a new waynof seeing things.”

UPDATE: Last week, luxury blog Luxist posted about the LM 100here.

[image: Le Meridien 100]