­When 21c Museum Hotel  opened in Louisville, Kentucky in April of 2006 guests and locals alike were thrilled with the new hotel’s seamless melding of art museum (installations in the hotel’s 9,000 square feet of gallery space have included pieces from living contemporary artists like Chuck Close and Marc Swanson as well as John Waters and Mikhail Baryshnikov —most from the private collection of owners Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson) with fine dining and luxury boutique hotel rooms.  Not to mention the four foot tall bright red polyethylene penguins that seem to move around each floor—and even into your room—of their own volition. ­

Now the 21c group is poised to grace more cities with its unique presence. First up is Austin, Texas where the second 21c Museum Hotel will open at the end of 2010 on a downtown site adjacent to Waller Creek and Lady Bird Lake.

Larger than its Louisville counterpart, the Austin hotel will house even more art (including an outdoor sculpture garden), have more than twice the number of rooms (220) and sport penguins of a different, top secret colour (my guess is green as it’s been whispered to me that the Austin property could have a strong eco streak).

The Austin 21c hotel will also have a spa, a pool and a much larger fitness room with direct access to Austin’s famed running and biking paths. “In some ways, the new property will feel like an art driven resort that happens to be located in downtown Austin,” says Michael Bonadies, CEO of 21c.

And, according to Bonadies, other cities are already being auditioned as locations for future 21c hotels and new properties could be announced early next year. However, the growing hotel group is not interested in just any old city.

“Austin, as well as a number of our other cities we’re targeting, is a secondary market with a strong university presence, often a state house, a growing economy and typically a younger population. They’re cities poised for growth in the 21st century,” Bonadies says.

Why so picky? “21c is able to make a bigger impact with its art collection and cultural activities in these cities than it would in a major market which already has lots of museums and galleries.  Our targeted cities all have strong culture institutions or cultural sub-cultures, such as Austin's music scene, but perhaps not as wide or deep a spectrum of culture as a major city would.  We would not go into a city or a market where culture wasn't important or appreciated.”

Beautiful.