Bookish Hotels & BnB’s Around the World For Your Next Getaway
Passport, suitcase, and more books than days in your trip? Check! Where are you headed on your next vacation or weekend getaway? These hotels and BnB’s are decked out with author inspired decor, books galore, and bookish fun, so you can snooze in style. Pack your bags!
Oscar Wilde Suite, L’Hotel, Paris, France
This historic boutique hotel in the St. Germain neighborhood of Paris was Oscar Wilde’s last place of residence. The 377 square foot Oscar Wilde Suite is dedicated to the writer with memorabilia, a private terrace, luxury bath and shower, a handsome writing desk, opulent décor, and private use of L’Hotel’s underground pool. The suite was designed to look like what Wilde’s living room in London might have looked like. Stop by The Bar on the ground floor for drinks, and on the first Thursday of every month live music and art. Try an “Into the Wilde” cocktail, made with whiskey, tobacco liquor, black pepper, and chocolate, or enjoy a simple glass of wine. L’Hotel is reopening in August 2021.
Rivertown Inn, Stillwater, Minnesota, USA
The Rivertown Inn is a 19th century mansion turned bed and breakfast, restored with elegance and antique European-style details. Each of the rooms and suites is dedicated to a different author. Stay in the Arthur Conan Doyle Suite, inspired by Victorian London, or the Agatha Christie Suite that looks like it was pulled directly out of the pages of Murder on the Orient Express. The Rivertown Inn has also a whimsical Lewis Carrol-inspired bedchamber, a Jane Austen suite done up in the greens of the English countryside, and Gothic-style Lord Byron suite. Visit their website to learn more.
Book and Bed, Tokyo, Japan
This combination bookstore and hostel has three locations, including one about to open in Kyoto. Do you remember getting in trouble for reading under the covers? At Book and Bed, you can sleep surrounded by books. Lounge on the sofas during the day while you browse, or book (pun intended!) a sleeping cubicle for your overnight stay. The cozy single sleeping cubicles include a reading lamp for reading late into the night. The café has plenty of yummy snacks and drinks to keep you going as you try to read your way through the store’s stock.
Hobbit Boutique Hotel, Bloemfontein, South Africa
As Tolkien’s birthplace, Bloemfontein is the perfect location for a reread, in any one this charming hotel’s rooms dedicated to a different character in J.R.R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books. The Gollum and Gandalf rooms are perfect for families, or book the Bilbo for a quiet, cozy stay with all the hobbit-y comforts. Hobbit Boutique Hotel is decorated with Tolkien’s maps and illustrations, and features a garden, library, and restaurant.
Jane Austen’s Apartment, Bath, England
While visiting Jane Austen’s England you can actually rent one of her former homes via Airbnb, near Sydney Gardens. The Austen family lived in this apartment from 1801-1805, where Jane began work on her unfinished novel “The Watsons.” The two bedroom apartment is decorated with antique furniture, luxury bathroom, and a cozy study, should artistic inspiration arise. The original kitchen has been converted one of the bedrooms, which retains its originally Georgian floors and paneling. After touring historic Bath, return to this creative and welcoming space, with a courtyard and enchanting details everywhere you turn.
Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Hotel Monteleone holds the title for being one of the most haunted hotels in America, as well as one of the most literary. Sitting at the heart of the French Quarter, Hotel Monteleone has been in operation since 1886. Literary greats made Hotel Monteleone their New Orleans home, like Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Tennessee Williams. The hotel has been designated a Literary Landmark by the Friends of the Library Association. Stay in one of the literary suites, named after Eudora Welty, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner, and step back in time. The Tennessee Williams suite is set to entertain with a full dining table, bar area, and stunning view of the French quarter. Truman Capote claimed to have been born at the hotel, so it’s only fitting that he was given a suite in his honor. The Truman Capote suite is spacious, with a parlor and dining area, and wet bar. Even if you’re not staying at the Hotel Monteleone, it’s worth stopping by the famous Carousel Bar and Lounge, which appears in Welty’s The Purple Hat and Hemingway’s The Night Before Battle, for a drink.
Small hotels, themed home rentals, and even the big hotel chains are getting more creative with ways to draw in travelers. What book would you want to spend the night inside? Need even more travel inspo? Check out 10 great bookish hotels you can stay at. If traveling out of town is not on the itinerary , visit our travel archives to escape into a great book.
