8 Hotels with Literary Connections

8 Hotels with Literary Connections
Here are eight fascinating literary links:

The Plaza - New York

In 1966 Truman Capote published ‘In Cold Blood' to critical acclaim. Such was the success of the book that he chose to throw a hugely lavish party at The Plaza. He named it the Black and White Ball and it became the most sought after ticket in New York. Only the lucky elite were allowed through the doors to rub shoulders with the most famous writers of the time.

The Cadogan - London

Built in 1887 near Sloane Street in London, The Cadogan Hotel was once the home of Lillie Langtry, the famous artist and friend to King Edward VII. However the hotel is infamous for the arrest of Oscar Wilde in 1895. He was staying in room 118 when the police visited to arrest him for "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons". These events were immortalised by the poet laureate John Betjeman in his moving poem “The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel”.

Hotel Pont Royal - Paris

It was in the late 1940s and 1950s that this graceful Parisian hotel came to literary provenance. The list of famous authors who stayed there, and drank in its bar, is astounding: James Joyce, Albert Camus, Henry Miller, Aldous Huxley, TS Eliot, Jean-Paul Sartre and Truman Capote to name a few. The bedroom interiors have changed somewhat since then, but you can still feel the literary history drifting off the Seine and into the hotel's library and bar.

Hotel Ambos Mundos – Havana

After falling in love with Cuba in 1928, Ernest Hemingway returned to the same hotel time after time, eventually living in it for seven years, from 1932 to 1939. His favourite room in the beautiful five story building was number 511. You can't stay in that room any more – but make sure you drop in and visit – it's open to tourists for viewing.

The Library Hotel – New York

A literary haunt of the future maybe? This boutique hotel on Madison Avenue houses sixty rooms organised by the Dewey Decimal System. Each floor is a different library category, and every room a sub-category. There are reading rooms, writing rooms and complimentary breakfasts and coffees for those who can't put down their books. Why not try the Fairy Tales room found by number 800.005.

Le Pavillon des Lettres - Paris

Each of the 26 rooms at Le Pavillon des Lettres has been assigned a letter of the alphabet, and honors a writer whose last name begins with that letter (from A for Hans Christian Andersen to Z for Emile Zola), featuring quotations from his or her work beautifully stenciled on the walls. Plus, each room comes with an iPad loaded with reading material, for all the modern lovers of literature.

Hotel Montelone - New Orleans

Located on 214 Royal Street in the heart of the historic French Quarter, the hotel was built in 1866 and has an impressive literary history. This southern gem boasts a fearsome list of literary guests, including Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Winston Groom (Forrest Gump), and more. Contemporary writers Anne Rice and John Grisham have been guests, too. In 1999 the Friends of the Library Association distinguished the hotel as an official literary landmark.

Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

The Oriental Bangkok (now called Mandarin Oriental Bangkok), is a world-renowned luxury hotel and the oldest hotel in Bangkok opened in 1876. The hotel has a long and famous history and a legacy of famous writers including: Joseph Conrad, Somerset Maugham, John LeCarre, Norman Mailer, James Michener, Ian Fleming and many more.

For more information and to browse rare first edition books visit www.thejonesbrothers.com