I’m always on the lookout for bookish places, so when I was wandering (read: slightly lost) in Rouen, France recently, I noticed this sign. Now, my French is awful, but I do remember a couple of words from high school classes: livres = books, chambres = rooms. Plus, the big clues of hôtel and littéraire seemed very exciting to me. Well, imagine my surprise when what I thought might be a hotel on a spot where Flaubert once wrote, turned out to be an entire society dedicated to authors.

Hôtel Littéraire Gustave Flaubert, a BW Signature Collection hotel, is just one of a number of addresses designed to recreate the world of famous authors as part of the Society of Literary Hotels.

”I created the Hôtels Littéraires company to share the love of books with thousands of visitors whom I don’t know, but who, I know, are happy to discover a random author or book during their trip in Paris, Rouen or Clermont-Ferrand.” _{– Jacques Letertre, President}

Each hotel offers not just words (though a multi-lingual library is available), but images, collectors’ editions, music and even maps including insightful details about the authors’ lives and key places that they visited. (Click the link to see where Flaubert frequented in Rouen.) Plus, staying in any of these hotels means that, for once, you won’t have to pack any books!

The Hôtels Littéraires
Paris, Rouen, Biarritz, Clermont-Ferrand, Nancy
https://www.hotelslitteraires.fr/en/