My all-time favorite summer pastime is reading a book next to a body of water, and I know I'm not alone.
As someone who reads dozens of books annually, I can't help but notice how many works of fiction are set in hotels. Novels set in hotels is about as common as early 2000s romcoms starring unrealistically fashionable journalists. I will never understand why so many filmmakers romanticized this low-paying, highly-competitive field.
Anyways, hotels are a similarly abundant theme to works of fiction, and over the years I've read a lot of books set in hotels. In some cases, the hotel is almost a character in itself of the story. Here are five novels set in hotels that I'd highly recommend picking up this summer for your next vacation or literary escape.
1. The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand
I have to start with this The Hotel Nantucket, which was inspired by a real-life historic hotel I reported on last year. The book has everything to keep you entertained on vacation — a full cast of characters (some up to no good), a budding romance, heartbreak and even a friendly ghost. The author, Elin Hilderbrand, never has disappointed me with any of her 30-plus novels, but this one stands out as being one of the most entertaining. Hilderbrand's first novel set on Nantucket, The Beach Club, also takes place at a hotel and is high on my list of books to be read.
2. The Maid by Nita Prose
There is a whole slew of murder mysteries set in hotels — I could, if encouraged, do a whole list dedicated to that subgenre. The most wholesome of the ones I've read is The Maid, which has actually expanded to a four-book series. Full of lovable characters, the novel stars Molly, an eccentric young woman defined by her love of order, cleaning and etiquette, making her the perfect maid at the fictional Regency Grand Hotel in New York City. However, her orderly world is upended by the discovery of a dead hotel guest.
3. Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
If the Catskills featured in Dirty Dancing captured your intrigue, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel drops you right back into a more modern family vacation in the upstate New York region. The story follows the beloved Golden Hotel, a hot destination for families for over sixty years. But the resort is not what it used to be, and neither is the relationship between its annual visitors the Goldman and Weingold families. I remember really enjoying the multiple generations of perspective on the summer's goings-on and even laughing out loud at points.
4. The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis
Fiona Davis is one of my favorite authors who frequently selects iconic New York City buildings as the settings — and main characters — of her historical fiction novels. The Barbizon Hotel in NYC's Upper East Side is a real building that housed young working women, such as receptionists, models and more, in the 1950s. In the novel, Davis creates fictional characters that bring to life the building's real history. On a recent trip to New York, I walked past the building, which now consists of condos — and a first-floor Equinox and SoulCycle.
5. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Hotels are a very common setting for a wedding, so it makes sense that this would be the case for fictional weddings, too. I recommend The Wedding People exclusively to anyone who enjoys dark humor — think: Fleabag. The book's main character Phoebe Stone books a stay at the Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island. She quickly realizes she is the only guest not associated with the huge wedding weekend taking place at the hotel, and despite her very bleak plans for herself, frequently gets rooked into the festivities. I've never laughed so much reading a novel that covers so many heavy topics.
My next hotel-set read will likely be The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater. From the synopsis I've deduced that it's about a hotel general manager forced to provide luxury service to Nazis in 1942 West Virginia. I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but I think this one is actually inspired by a real hotel — can't wait to find out.
I'd love to connect on LinkedIn to hear what your favorite books set in hotels are and what novels you're hoping to read this summer.
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