Curling up in a hotel with a good book is one of the joys of travel, as you float free from daily chores and responsibilities. But why tote books around in your luggage or buy a potboiler in an airport bookstore when you can read books free at hotels with fantastic private libraries? Following are some hotels with enviable collections around the world.
Number of books:
More than 6,000
Fun fact:
The hotel’s theme is the Dewey Decimal System. Each floor is devoted to a certain Dewey Decimal System category — the arts, history, philosophy, religion — and all 60 rooms are stocked with 25 to 100 books on a topic within the category.
Number of books:
More than 2,000
Fun fact:
This boutique hotel was mentioned in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy. Many of the books in the lending library were autographed by authors, including Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners and two U.S. presidents.
Number of books:
More than 4,000 in a variety of languages
Fun fact:
This hotel’s theme is green topics such as ecology, the environment and sustainable development. Circa 1449, this former palace in the heart of Lisbon’s historical center is situated near St. George’s Castle. Reading and historic preservation are passions of the French owner.
Number of books:
Unknown
Fun fact:
There are 26 rooms for 26 letters of the alphabet honoring 26 international authors. The rooms named after great writers — Virginia Woolfe, Leo Tolstoy, Voltaire and more — have, in a nod to current technology, iPads containing their books.
Number of books:
1,200
Fun fact:
Some of the “wow factors” here include a yoga and Pilates pavilion, tennis courts and a “groovy library.” The owner asked friends and travel editors to recommend 10 books on its opening in 2003. Thanks to help from a British bookseller, the collection grew to 1,200 volumes.
Number of books:
About 3,000
Fun fact:
This historic hotel is spread among 10 buildings in the heart of Amsterdam. The books are by writers from 76 countries, many signed first editions donated by the authors. The 58-room boutique hotel was converted from 17th-century merchants’ homes along the Herengracht Canal.
Number of books:
About 5,900
Fun fact:
This extremely ornate hotel with European-style furnishings and Indian craftsmanship was the former guest palace of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad. The palace library collection contains rare manuscripts and books as well as “one of the most acclaimed collections of the Holy Quran in the country,” according to the Taj Hotels website. The library’s ceiling is modeled after Windsor Castle’s library.
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