The last few days have seen historic snow, ice, and cold in
much of the country. The wintry weather
has been wearying to the mind, body and spirit. Let’s face it - we all need a change from that bleak scene
outside our windows. For a change – of mental scenery, at least – I offer for
your enjoyment three fascinating literary hotels. At these three great escapes
you can not only get away and luxuriate in a jetted hot tub, a windswept beach,
or hot jazz scene, but also commune with a favorite author.
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| The Sylvia Beach Hotel |
Want lots of quiet time for reading and walking on the shore?
The Sylvia Beach Hotel is the place. Perched on the rugged Oregon coast, the
Sylvia Beach – named for the founder of famed Shakespeare and Company bookstore
in Paris – caters to the book lover. Rooms in three categories – the spacious
Classics suites, the Best Sellers, and the cozy Novels – are whimsically
decorated to honor authors from JK Rowling to Dr. Seuss. Mystery lovers can
choose the Agatha Christie Suite, which contains decorative nods to clues from
many of her novels. The Virginia Woolf room offers views of the lighthouse. The
JRR Tolkien room is papered with maps of Middle Earth and has a large pair of
Tom Bombadil’s boots parked outside the door. Quiet nooks and cozy couches
abound in the well-stocked library, and hungry readers can refuel in the Table
of Contents Restaurant.
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| Hotel Monteleone |
New Orlean’s Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter has
hosted and housed famous authors for more than 100 years. Truman Capote used to
brag that he was born there, but the website says that although his mother
lived there while pregnant, the hotel did provide transportation to the
hospital where little Truman safely made his debut. At the Monteleone, you
have the choice of the Truman Capote Suite, the William Faulkner Suite, the
Tennessee Williams Suite, the Eudora Welty Suite, and the spectacular Ernest
Hemingway Penthouse. The hotel’s famous spinning Carousel Bar and Lounge
features in several of these authors’ stories and dozens of literary luminaries
have made it their favorite New Orleans watering hole. Pull up a barstool and
get your Tennessee on!
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| Inn BoonsBoro |
Romantics and lovers of romance novels can escape to Maryland’s Inn BoonsBoro The Inn is the work of the Queen of Steamy Romance
herself, Nora Roberts. Roberts resurrected the historic hotel on Boonsboro’s
Main Street, transforming it into a boutique hotel with rooms dedicated to famous
literary lovers. Sorry, there is no Romeo and Juliet Suite. Roberts chose only
lovers whose stories had happy endings. Guests can choose from rooms dedicated to Dashiell Hammett’s
Nick and Nora (art deco elegance) or Westley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride (fairy tale romance).
The rooms evoke the feel of the novels with décor, furniture and amenities like
evocatively perfumed bath products and silky duvets. Even the Inn’s room descriptions (penned by Nora herself?) whisk
you away: The Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride
and Prejudice (“enjoy the elegance and peace of an English country house”),
Jane and Rochester from Jane Eyre (“heather
scented bath amenities sweep you back to summer on the moor”), Marguerite and
Percy from The Scarlet Pimpernel
(“mounds of pillows will transport you to the halcyon days of aristocratic
splendor”), Titania and Oberon from A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (“romantic bower for two”), and Roberts’ own ultramodern
Eve and Rourke Room based on her In Death
books (“scents are mysterious with romantic lavender patchouli designed to help
you relax after a day fighting crime”).
Do you have any favorite getaways, literary or otherwise?
