zure takes up a prime chunk of InterContinental lobby real estate. Flanked by soaring panes of windows surrounding a drinking and dining den of white linen tables and hanging chandeliers, the first thing you'll notice is the large panel of tempered glass, and an acid-etched mural which signals the bar and lounge area.

Clean, open and soaring is the trend du jour in hotel design Azure, as a luxe hotel bar should be, is the heart and soul of the hotel, devoutly indulging high-end travelers. It's a meeting ground for businessmen, tourists, investment bankers, and local loungers.

The brilliant blue wall that provides a backdrop to the service bar is compelling and alluring. This abstract work is Stuart Reid's Liquid Veil, an $80,000 installation consisting of a framework of mouth-blown sheets of acid-etched, coloured glass; the bold backlighting brings a dreamlike quality to the entire space.

Reid's something of a daydream believer himself: his previous work tended to burst into surreal pixilations (as seen in the windows of Toronto’s St. James Cathedral and his Urban Ribbon abstract in the IC lobby), this backdrop is appealingly dizzying. Blues and purples blend wildly into each other in a colourful outburst, while silhouettes of busy staffers run back and forth from behind the semi-opaque piece, bartenders do the same in front; their illuminated waltz brings more life to the piece.

Aptly enough, stunning artwork alone does not create a hot spot. Don't worry, this level of quality has extended to all aspects of Azure: the kitchen has been taken over by Executive Chef Laurent Kehr and Chef Masayuki Tamaru (Crush), while all 800 labels of wine are carefully controlled by sommelier Kit Gingrich. "It's a lifetime pursuit," Gingrich says on her life as a sommelier. I'm constantly studying, and it's extremely thrilling. My first career choice was to be a pilot, but I just didn't feel it had that particular zing."