Planning a vacation? Escape reality—both literally and figuratively—by visiting one of these literary-inspired getaways. You’ll have your nose buried in a book the entire time, but sightseeing is overrated anyway, right?
1. Gladstone’s Library // Hawarden, Wales
In the tiny village of Hawarden, in Flintshire, Wales, travelers can spend the night in an historic residential library, surrounded by tomes collected by one of the UK’s most famous prime ministers. William Gladstone, who served a record four terms as head of Her Majesty’s government, lived in nearby Hawarden Castle after retiring from government service. The bibliophile amassed more than 30,000 books, and housed them in a building he envisioned as becoming a place where people could someday
sleep, eat, and study.
After Gladstone’s death in 1898, the town’s residents raised money to build a permanent home for the collection. In 1902, Gladstone’s Library opened as a national memorial to its namesake; today, visitors can sleep in one of its 26 guest rooms, dine in an onsite cafe, and—most importantly—browse the library’s 250,000 titles until 10 p.m. (The library closes to the public at 5 p.m.)
2. Heathman Hotel // Portland, Oregon
Courtesy of Heathman Hotel
Thanks to a partnership with bookseller Powell Books and nonprofit Literary Arts, Portland’s historic
Heathman Hotel is home to a cataloged lending library of more than
2700 signed titles. It’s billed as the country’s largest independent hotel library, and it’s also one of the world’s largest autographed libraries; titles include signatures from Nobel Prize and Pulitzer winners, U.S. Poet Laureates, former U.S. presidents, and more. Four days a week, an in-house librarian hosts a wine social in the Heathman’s mezzanine library, home to more than 2000 of the collection’s books. Guests sip local vintages, browse through titles, and select works to check out and read in their rooms.
3. The Jefferson // Washington, D.C.
Courtesy of The Jefferson, Washington D.C.
The Jefferson in Washington, D.C. draws inspiration from the life of Thomas Jefferson, and adds a luxurious twist. Its toile draperies pay homage to the president’s Virginia plantation, Monticello; a Michelin-starred restaurant, Plume, serves food inspired by Monticello’s gardens; and Quill, a lounge and cocktail bar, is adorned with 18th-century maps that trace Jefferson’s trips through Europe’s wine country. The hotel’s crowning glory is its Book Room, modeled after Jefferson’s personal library. Guests can peruse titles reflective of Jefferson’s era or his favorite pastimes, or select works signed by famous authors, like Dave Barry and Ron Chernow, who’ve stayed as guests
4. Wonderland House // Brighton, England
Courtesy of Wonderland House
Vacationers can pretend they’ve fallen down the rabbit hole at
Wonderland House, a six-bedroom hotel in Brighton, England that celebrates Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. (
Carroll himself used to spend his summers in the seaside resort town, and is said to have drawn inspiration from his surroundings.) Each guest room contains whimsical furnishings and decorations that reference
Alice—there are kettles, clocks, mirrors, and teacups galore—and the Mad Hatter-themed kitchen comes complete with a black-and-white checkerboard floor and all the fixings for a raucous tea party.
5. The study at Yale // New Haven, Connecticut
Courtesy of The Study at Yale
Located on Yale University’s Art Campus,
The Study at Yale is a boutique hotel that captures the Ivy League’s collegiate spirit. Photos of Yale’s campus by Michael Marsland, Yale’s photographer,
line the walls; the living room/lobby has
a floor-to-ceiling bookcase filled with titles curated by New York City’s Strand Book Store; rooms are furnished with cozy leather reading chairs; and eight “Study” suites contain designated study areas, complete with stocked bookcases.
6. The Library Hotel // New York City
Courtesy of The Library Hotel
New York City’s
Library Hotel celebrates its proximity to the New York Public Library’s majestic flagship location, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, by loosely modeling itself after the renowned center of knowledge. The hotel houses
more than 6000 books, distributed throughout private rooms and public areas, and each of its 10 guest floors is inspired by one of the Dewey Decimal System’s 10 major categories—philosophy, religion, math and science, technology, etc.
Individual hotel rooms are decorated to reflect genres or topics within these groups, meaning that guests can sleep in zoology, mythology, astronomy, and even erotic literature-themed suites. When they’re not reading, guests can relax at the rooftop watering hole, the Writer’s Den & Poetry Garden, which by night turns into Bookmarks Lounge and serves literary-themed drinks.
7. Book and Bed // Tokyo
Sleep with books instead of stuffed animals at
Book and Bed, a Tokyo hotel with
30 tiny beds hidden inside
a giant bookshelf. The hotel lacks basic creature comfort, like private bathrooms, and the bookshelf’s 1700 Japanese and English titles aren’t technically for sale, but the entire setup has novelty to spare. “The perfect setting for a good night’s sleep is something you will not find here,”
Book and Bed’s website acknowledges. “There are no comfortable mattresses, fluffy pillows nor lightweight and warm down duvets. What we do offer is an experience while reading a book (or comic book).”
8. The Library // Koh Samui, Thailand
Courtesy of The Library
Come to
The Library—a boutique hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand’s second-largest island—for its minimalist aesthetic, beachfront views, and blood-red swimming pool; stay for its
amazing library, which includes a huge selection of books, DVDs, CDs, and
an iMac computer corner.
9. The Betsy // Miami Beach
Courtesy of The Betsy, South Beach
At
The Betsy, a glamorous Georgian- and Art Deco-style hotel located on South Beach’s Ocean Drive, visitors can hit the beach
and the books. Owner Jonathan Plutzik’s
late father was Hyam Plutzik, a three-time Pulitzer finalist for poetry, and The Betsy reflects his literary legacy. Guest rooms have small libraries, and the hotel
places bookmarks on guests’ pillows, inscribed with Plutzik’s poetry. The Betsy also hosts regular
arts and cultural events, and has a special Writer’s Room reserved for
artist residencies.
10. The Commons Hotel // Minneapolis
Guests at
The Commons Hotel in Minneapolis can snuggle up with a good book,
delivered right to their rooms by a resident book butler. Choose from a selection of titles, or
ask the butler for a recommendation. If you feel like mingling with other bibliophiles, The Commons is located just steps away from the University of Minnesota, and is close to one of the nation’s largest independent arts organizations,
the Loft Literary Center.
11. Sylvia Beach Hotel // Newport, Oregon
Oregon’s
Sylvia Beach Hotel is named after
Sylvia Beach, the renowned American publisher/expat who, in 1919, founded Paris’s Shakespeare and Company bookstore, publisher of
James Joyce’s 1922 novel
Ulysses and hangout for F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. The hotel is perched high on a bluff overlooking central Oregon’s Nye Beach, and each of its 21 rooms is named after a famous author—Oscar Wilde, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Virginia Woolf,
to name a few. To encourage guests to unplug—and take advantage of the third-floor oceanfront library—there are no TVs, phones, or Wi-Fi.
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