My fingers are tingling, I’m so excited about what I just discovered!  Elvine, a Swedish clothing company, has teamed up with a bunch of different local independent organizers to develop a boutique hotel for local and traveling ‘creative types’ ~ and it’s totally free! No surprise taxes or hidden ‘gotcha’ fees slipped under your door at check out.   Why, you may ask?   (I did).  The Creators Inn website says they just wanted to promote the area, Gothenburg, and show local and visiting DJs, writers, artists, musicians and others that they’re loved and supported by the community.

Anyone can request accommodation just by filling out an application on their website,  with the only requirement being that you must have a valid reason for wanting to stay.   If you just want to go to pick up blondes or take off for a few weeks to chill, you probably won’t get accepted.  If you’re going to be in town to take a painting class or you’re an architect and want to check out Swedish modern design or a tattooist interested in European trends, you would qualify.  They seem especially welcoming to foreign visitors.  (Canadian blog goddesses?  Hey, I’ll take up belly dancing and sword-swallowing if it helps my chances one day).

The forces behind the project have used the term Creative Social Responsibility when describing what they’re about.  To them it means reminding people about the real meaning of hospitality, while at the same time adding an important element back into the community ~ the arts.   Funny  I would find this website just when the Vancouver Sun headline recently announced Arts Community Hobbled by $20-million Cut in Funding – Aug 30/09.   I guess not everyone sees the arts in the quite the same way in terms of importance to the community.  Sad, really.

Just look at this place!  This is no ordinary backpacker’s hostel they’re offering here!  The latest project is near Lindholmen in Gothenburg, Sweden and has shared art studio space, workshops, music studio and kitchen and dining rooms.

I know most of you reading might not get a chance to visit one of the Creators Inns, myself included, but what inspires me the most about this project is how and why it came to be;  regular working folk got together and decided to do something outside the box that would benefit the community.  Simple as that.  Sure, there was some corporate funding involved, and maybe a tax incentive somewhere, I don’t know, but the fact remains that these guys did it.  They made a difference, and a whole register of guests who may not have been able to experience Sweden were able.   I love the creativity of it all.