The best books about hotels

I grew up reading just about everything that Beverly Clearly wrote, and while it would be impossible for me to choose a favorite, Ralph S. Mouse’s adventure with a boy named Keith, who is vacationing in the Mountain View Inn with his family, is one that doesn’t get old, even after all these years. What kid wouldn’t love a story about a talking mouse, not to mention a mouse that saves the day riding a toy motorcycle in search of medicine for his sick new human friend? I certainly did! And if you can’t get enough of Ralph, there are two more books in the series.

It’s hard to choose a Miss Marple book – they are all so good – but I have settled on this one as it reminds me of London, where I used to live. Miss Marple is my favourite elderly female protagonist of all time, because of the means by which she takes such good advantage of people’s underestimation of her abilities. She is wise, insightful, and clever, and I find her enjoyment of her ‘treat’ visit to the hotel very endearing – who wouldn’t love a holiday in a posh hotel at someone else’s expense?

Like a male version of Eat Pray Love, where the main character doesn't seem to really learn anything from the experience and already started out rather selfish, The Year of Dan Palace shows us Dan's ongoing struggle with love in a world where he believes the end is nigh. His constant internal battle with himself over how he wants to live his life is at the forefront of every single moment in this captivating text, as we find ourselves yelling at the book in an attempt to convince Dan to get over himself and just start living life for once.

This book will grab you and hold you until you finish the final pages, all the time hoping that Dan does find some happiness, or at least validation of his greatest fears, by the time the book ends.

Oh, this book! I loved this creepy mystery, set in a strange and isolated inn where something unusual is most definitely going on. The author deftly uses flashbacks to slowly unravel the mystery, and when you figure out what is happening, I guarantee you will gasp. This is a genre-bending book that doesn’t shy away from grappling with emotionally intense issues while being an absolutely riveting read.

We’re back in the Alps—this time in Switzerland—and a storm’s a-brewin’. The Sanitorium follows an uptight detective hoping for some much-needed time away from work. But, lo and behold, the mountainside hotel of Le Sommet is anything but relaxing. I loved the cold and creepy isolation this book offers, and much of the mystery in the book centers on the hotel’s previous existence as a sanitorium for women with tuberculosis. Aside from the landscape, the way Pearse subtly criticizes the historical mistreatment of women in this book is what really hooked me.

Off the Map is a tribute and to me the greatest tribute novel of all times is Jamaica Inn. It’s clearly a love letter from du Maurier to Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, but given a much greater darkness and gravity. She breathed la vie de la vérité into Bronte’s vision and in doing so became every bit as influential as Bronte did with her novel. You read Cormac McCarthy’s Outer Dark or Blood Meridian – there’s the pale-faced preacher as the leader of the mysterious trio and as Judge Holden, respectively. A tribute to a tribute. Amazing, beautiful, worthy work.

The Maid is a wonderful, whimsical book about Molly, a maid in a posh hotel who finds a body. Molly is on the spectrum and is treated unfairly by her colleagues, with a few notable exceptions. A natural truster, she takes things—and people—at face value. Molly is so lovable! Endowed with quirks such as calling the family nest-egg money “the Faberge”, she is charming and we can’t help but root for her. One of her strengths is that, despite all that happens, she never loses her faith in human nature.

Here's a thought from Molly, and I think this applies to us all: "My truth is not the same as yours because we don't experience life in the same way."

All the characters in this book felt totally real and the situations they find themselves in and live through are honest.  And I’m not just talking about the main characters here – all the supporting characters have their own personalities and don’t resort to stereotypes as shorthand.  The romance developed organically and felt like something healthy that both Josh and Skylar needed in order to really accept who they are.

If you’re dreaming of travel but unable to hit the road at the moment, this is the perfect coffee table book for the vegan armchair traveler. Written by the creators of the Veggie Hotels web-based directory of vegan and vegetarian hotels, this book is full of gorgeous photos of some of the best cruelty-free digs around the world.

You’ll also find plenty of useful information about all the services and activities these veg and vegan accommodations offer, such as yoga and cooking classes. And chefs from the on-site restaurants even share some of their most popular recipes in the book.