6 hotels you need to visit to appease your inner book nerd
As technology continues to improve at a rapid pace and hotels pander more and more to millennials, new amenities include things like free Wi-FI, streaming Netflix, and even robot butlers. While we appreciate hotels soothe our techy souls, sometimes we like to kick it old school, turn of the TV and enjoy a bath and a good book. Luckily, there are some book-centric hotels that still cater to our inner Hermione Granger.
1. The Library Hotel (New York City): Showcasing a Dewey Decimal System theme, you'll find 6,000+ books across the 60 guestrooms, with each floor focused on a book store section and each room exploring a topic within (picture staying on the Third Floor: Social Sciences, in room 300.004, World Culture). Communal spaces like a Reading Room, Writers Den, Poetry Garden, Bookmarks Lounge and a rooftop cocktail bar serving drinks like the classic "Hemingway" add to the appeal, as do monthly poetry readings and author talks. Rates start at $273 per night.
2. The Commons Hotel (Minneapolis, Minnesota): We've told you about some of the world's most unique hotel concierges and services, and we're now adding to that list with the Commons Hotel's book butler, ready to deliver your choice of bestseller or classic novel on demand. Literary quotes sprinkled on your pillow at turndown and a side of Sudoku with your room service eggs are other literary touches, complementing the lobby library for guest perusal. Rates start at $199 per night.
3. Hotel Ambos Mundos (Havana, Cuba): Cuba is a hot destination right now, and literary lovers heading to Havana can stay in Ernest Hemingway's Cuba residence from 1932 and 1939. The salmon-colored hotel — the very place Hemingway started writing For Whom The Bell Tolls — has kept writer's room #511 in tact as a small museum, still containing his writing table, typewriter and the views that inspired him. Head to the nearby Floridita where Hemingway often hung out and pay homage with a "Papa Doble" daiquiri made with double rum and no sugar. Rates start at $84 per night.
4. The Poetry Inn (Napa Valley, California): An intimate hotel in wine country, each of the five rooms are named after one of the owner's favorite authors — Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickenson, and e.e. Cummings — and showcases a book of their works. Read the texts on your chaise lounge-clad private terrace overlooking Napa. Rates start at $610 per night.
5. The Draycott Hotel (London, United Kingdom): This red brick Edwardian property features spacious rooms with fire places — perfect for curling up near with a book — named after notable actors, producers and playwrights (think Grenfell, Gershwin and Ashcroft). Along with antique embellishments, rooms hold photographs, posters and memorabilia from theater history, although the library and drawing room is also inspiring. Channel your inner Romeo & Juliet on the balcony, roam the onsite flower beds for a taste of The Secret Garden or visit Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, less than a 10-minute walk. Rates start at $265 per night.
6. The Apostrophe Hotel (Paris, France): Located on Paris' Left Bank in the quiet 6th arrondissement, known for its literature history, book shops and for historically being home to notable writers like Paul Éluard and Albert Camus, the family-run property is focused on the arts. Local artists paint music and literature-inspired murals throughout — picture giant typewriter keys and Apollo, the god of music and poetry — and each of the 16 rooms is dedicated to a poem verse. Rates start at $199 per night.
Jessica Festa is the founder on the solo and offbeat travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and the online responsible tourism and culture magazine, Epicure & Culture. She's constantly searching for local experiences beyond the guidebook. You can follow her travels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.