WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#historichotels–Historic Hotels of America®, an official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is pleased to announce its 2024 Top 25 Historic Hotels of America® Most Literary Hotels List. This selection of 25 storied and illustrious destinations highlights the authenticity and significance of historic hotels in American history and culture. They were selected for their connections to influential writers and literary movements, or for how they use literature and literary history to enhance the guest experience. Martin Luther King Jr. composed I Have a Dream—one of the 20th century’s most influential speeches—at a hotel in Washington, D.C., just before he delivered it to massive crowds. In the Roaring Twenties, a historic hotel in New York City hosted the city’s most “vicious” literary club: The Algonquin Roundtable. Farther south, Margaret Mitchell found a serene North Carolina inn where she could work on Gone with the Wind, and William Faulkner penned The Sound and the Fury at the same New Orleans hotel where he spent his honeymoon. To the west, historic hotels inspired John Prine, Thomas Savage, Anne Rice, Louis L’Amour, Willa Cather, and Oscar Wilde—to name a few. Four members of Historic Hotels of America are listed on the Literary Landmarks™ Register by the Friends of Libraries U.S.A. Other historic hotels were selected because they offer guestrooms with substantial libraries or fascinating library architecture. Many of the historic hotels on this list offer history tours for visitors to learn more about the hotel’s history, including the hotel’s literary past and cultural connections. Others have curated specialty guestrooms and suites dedicated to the lives and art of writers. The historic hotels on this list all share a commitment to preserving stories from throughout the ages and the places where history was made. Visitors are invited to discover and explore these places, all open to the public.
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Concord’s Colonial Inn (1716) Concord, Massachusetts
Concord’s Colonial Inn in Concord, Massachusetts, is a charming Colonial-style hotel located within the Concord Monument Square–Lexington Road Historic District. It was once a series of three distinct buildings, one of which was the family home of American philosopher and author, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s grandfather, John Thoreau, purchased the house in 1799 from the White family, who had built it in 1716. When John Thoreau Sr. died, his widow and two daughters began operating their home as a boarding house. In 1835, John Thoreau Jr. moved his own family, including his sisters, back into the house for the next two years while Henry David, his son, attended Harvard College. Henry David Thoreau stayed at the house while he was in and out of Harvard or teaching. The family sold the inn by the end of the decade. Thoreau went on to write enduring popular works like the essay “Resistance to Civil Government” (1849; also known as “Civil Disobedience”) and personal memoir Walden (1854). The Thoreau House is the most historic of the three buildings that became Concord’s Colonial Inn, which opened to the public as an inn in 1889. For visitors interested in learning more about Henry David Thoreau, the historic hotel is 1.5 miles from the Walden Pond State Reservation and cabin site where the writer lived between July 4, 1845 and September 6, 1847, and just 0.5 miles from the Concord Museum. Concord’s Colonial Inn was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2005.
The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC (1818) Washington, D.C.
The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC is a Grande Dame in the U.S. capital known for hosting heads of state, due to its proximity to the White House, but the storied hotel has welcomed writers, poets, and intellectuals for over two hundred years. From Nathaniel Hawthorne to Mark Twain, this historic hotel has served as a creative sanctuary that continues to inspire. Several notable works with immense cultural and political significance have been composed at The Willard InterContinental, including “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by Julia Ward Howe and I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Howe, a writer and abolitionist, was inspired to write the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” during a trip to the capital in 1861. Moved by the music she had heard during a review of the troops, Howe returned to her guestroom at The Willard InterContinental that night and began to write. By morning, she had written the verses for a new song that served as the spiritual ode to the preservation of the Union. The song lyrics first appeared on the front page of The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. It was an overnight sensation, becoming one of the most frequently sung tunes by Northern soldiers during the American Civil War. Just over a hundred years later, in August 1963, Dr. King composed his I Have a Dream speech in the hotel’s lobby on the eve of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Willard InterContinental is within walking distance of the Lincoln Memorial, and Dr. King stayed at the hotel while he was in the city for the historic event. The Willard InterContinental, Washington DC was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2010.
Omni Parker House (1855) Boston, Massachusetts
In 1877, while visiting Boston, Mark Twain told a reporter that he was staying “pretty near Heaven—not theologically, of course, but by the hotel standard.” Twain was a guest at the Omni Parker House, which opened in 1855 at the dawn of a golden age of American literature. Within weeks of its opening, the hotel attracted many of the greatest literary luminaries of the era, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., and Nathaniel Hawthorne. All of these men were members of the illustrious Saturday Club, which met at the Omni Parker House on the last Saturday of every month. Saturday Club members are commemorated in displays throughout the hotel and in meeting rooms that guests can reserve today. Though not in the Saturday Club, female writers also frequented the hotel; Louisa May Alcott and Harriet Beecher Stowe both have meeting rooms named after them. When Charles Dickens visited Boston during his 1867-1868 book tour, he made the Omni Parker House his home for five months. Vestiges of that tour are displayed today, including the original 8-feet-tall wooden door to Dickens’s suite, as well as the mirror that he used to practice dramatic readings of A Christmas Carol (1843), which was first performed in the United States at the Omni Parker House. Visitors can learn more about the hotel’s literary past by joining periodic talks and tours by Susan Wilson, historian and author of Heaven, by Hotel Standards: The History of the Omni Parker House (2014). The Omni Parker House was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2006.
The Sayre Mansion (1858) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The Sayre Mansion in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was built in 1858 in the Gothic Revival style for Robert Heysham Sayre, chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Sayre was an avid book lover who amassed a collection of 15,000 books. In 1898, he commissioned an addition to the mansion to house his vast collection. The three-story library boasted extravagant architectural features, and was one of the most impressive private libraries in the country at the time. Mr. Sayre proudly collected some of the rarest volumes and encouraged people to visit and borrow titles. He even employed a live-in librarian to organize and oversee the process. Two historic photographs on display in the hotel lobby feature the library and show Mr. Sayre and the librarian posing with the collection. Sections of the library are visible today in guestrooms 11, 20, and 21. In Room 11, guests can experience the soaring, 25-feet-high cathedral-style, gold-toned plaster ceiling that adorned Sayre’s office in his library. Guests may notice a notch in the dome, which secured the spiral staircase leading to the catwalks that accessed the higher bookshelves. In addition to the library’s original vaulted ceiling and chandelier, the two-room suite offers two floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Sayre’s library included a balcony that overlooked the sprawling bookshelves. The gold coffered ceilings in The Sayre Mansion’s Rooms 20 and 21 once served as the base of the balcony. Visitors may book a stay in a particular guestroom to appreciate the architectural features preserved from the original library. At certain times of the year, ghost tours are offered that take visitors into the home’s unique spaces. The Sayre Mansion was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2013.
The Strater Hotel (1887) Durango, Colorado
Western and science fiction writer Louis L’Amour made The Strater Hotel in Durango, Colorado, his family’s retreat in the late 1960s and 1970s, and wrote many of his Sackett family novels there. Every August during that period, the family checked in to The Strater and L’Amour set up his writing desk in Room 222, which is now dedicated to him. L’Amour and his family would stay for a month at a time. Louis enjoyed this guestroom, as he could write on his typewriter while the ragtime piano below him played into the night, and as his children Beau and Angelique slept peacefully in the room next door. Room 222 is directly above the hotel’s famous Diamond Belle Saloon, where live ragtime music entertains guests. L’Amour once said that the music inspired his characters’ development. The drop-leaf table where he worked is still in Room 222. While the L’Amour family was staying at The Strater Hotel, the author divided his time between writing and hiking in the La Plata or San Juan Mountains. Former owner Rod Barker was a bellman at The Strater Hotel during this era. He recalls the annual arrival of the L’Amour family: “Louis was very easy to know and to like. He seemed to honestly enjoy the hotel staff and was friendly to all of us. We looked forward to seeing the family each day for breakfast in the dining room. I also distinctly remember moving the trunk full of books and references that Louis brought with him in the family station wagon.” The Strater Hotel was inducted as a Charter Member of Historic Hotels of America in 1989, and dates to 1887.
The Menger Hotel (1859) San Antonio, Texas
In 1882, 27-year-old Anglo-Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde traveled throughout the United States and Canada on a lecture tour titled, «The Decorative Arts.» Comedic opera writers Gilbert and Sullivan wanted to introduce American audiences to the philosophy of Aestheticism, which Wilde could represent perfectly through his flamboyant clothing and poetic speech, because they needed a receptive audience for their new show Patience, about an «aesthete.» Wilde, whose best-known works were still ahead of him, wanted fame. Over the course of 11 months, Wilde gave over 140 lectures on beauty and art. Beginning in New York City in January 1882 and ending there nearly a year later, Wilde stopped in cities and towns on a circuit across North America. When he arrived in San Antonio, Texas, on June 21, Wilde checked into The Menger Hotel—today a member of Historic Hotels of America—and spoke that night at the Turner Opera Hall. San Antonio’s The Evening Light newspaper reported the day after his lecture that, «He was attired in a black velvet suit, ancient in design and picturesque in appearance; the coat and vest being cut a la courtier» and that he had a «nervous temperament.» This historic hotel was added to the Literary Landmarks™ Register by the Friends of Libraries U.S.A. in 2000 for its part in hosting Wilde as well as William Sydney Porter (O. Henry), Sidney Lanier, and Theodore Roosevelt. The Menger Hotel was inducted as a Charter Member of Historic Hotels of America in 1989, and dates to 1859.
Along with The Menger Hotel, two other Historic Hotels of America members—Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa (1852) in Mobile, Alabama, and the Palace Hotel (1875) in San Francisco—hosted Wilde in 1882. Most of the inns and hotels where Oscar Wilde stayed during his 1882 tour have been demolished or repurposed.
The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa (1876) Riverside, California
To understand how horror and religious fiction author Anne Rice was inspired by The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, California, one must first understand the drama and artistry of the historic hotel’s architecture. Once a small boarding house, the lot was purchased in 1880 by Frank Augustus Miller, who set out on a six-decades-long project to build his beautiful hotel. The overarching architectural style is Spanish Colonial Revival, but there are soaring towers, flying buttresses, and ornate arcades that draw from Spanish Gothic, Moorish Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Mediterranean Revival styles of architecture. Miller traveled the world searching for art, textiles, rare antiques, and building materials to create his dream hotel. Christian iconography and antiques are found throughout the hotel. For example, wood paneling was imported from a Belgian convent. In the 2009 novel Angel Time, Rice uses the hotel as a refuge for her protagonist. Due to his circumstances, he is unable to travel to the European cities that he loves—Prague, Siena, and Vienna—but the main character reflects that the hotel gives him a similar atmosphere and fulfills his need to be among Medieval art and architecture. Rice stayed at the hotel several times while writing the book and its sequel, Of Love and Evil. She stayed in the hotel’s Amistad Suite, which is featured in the story. To honor Anne Rice’s legacy at the hotel, the suite is dedicated to her and another writer, Anne Cameron. Visitors can book the guestroom, which is under a hand-painted dome ceiling and features a large concrete fireplace. The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1996 and was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Hotel Monteleone (1886) New Orleans, Louisiana
Throughout its history, Hotel Monteleone on Royal Street in New Orleans has been a popular haunt for many prominent Southern authors and playwrights. William Faulkner honeymooned at the hotel with his wife, Estelle, in 1929. It was during this trip to the Hotel Monteleone that Faulkner penned his renowned novel, The Sound and the Fury (1929). Tennessee Williams wrote The Rose Tattoo (1951) at the Hotel Monteleone, and Ernest Hemingway used various locations throughout the hotel as the setting for his short story, “Night Before Battle.” Hotel Monteleone also appeared in other literary works, including Erle Stanley Gardner’s Owls Don’t Blink (1942) and Eudora Welty’s A Curtain of Green (1941). But some writers merely stopped by just to enjoy themselves. Truman Capote was a regular at the Carousel Bar, where he jokingly told its other patrons that he had been born inside the establishment. In recognition of the hotel’s literary history, the Friends of Libraries U.S.A. added Hotel Monteleone to the Literary Landmarks™ Register in 1999. Family-owned and operated since 1886, Hotel Monteleone was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 1999.
Hotel del Coronado (1888) San Diego, California
Children’s fantasy author L. Frank Baum first checked in at Hotel del Coronado in 1903, and he was a regular guest for years to come. Located on the coast in sunny Southern California’s village of Coronado, Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 as a luxury oceanfront resort. It is recognizable around the world for its Queen Anne-style architecture, including its gorgeous red cupolas and towers that grace its spectacular rooftop. During Baum’s years wintering at “The Del,” he stayed in several different guestrooms and wrote three books in his famous Oz series while staying there. In 2024, guestrooms in the Victorian building are undergoing a restoration, and the hotel anticipates that at least one of the guestrooms where Baum stayed will be labeled and available for guests to book in 2025. To share this history with guests, the gift shop at Hotel del Coronado sells The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), Baum’s most famous work, and includes tales of Baum’s time at the hotel in its guided tours. One of the stories kept alive by the hotel is about a 1905 meeting between Admiral Caspar F. Goodrich and L. Frank Baum. It was dinnertime, and Admiral Goodrich was riding the elevator to the dining room with his family when Baum joined them and the elevator operator in the car. Baum’s jacket collar was lopsided, with one side turned up and the other turned down. “Allow me,” said the Admiral, as he kindly fixed Baum’s collar. Later that night, Baum boarded the elevator again to return to his guestroom. The elevator operator, a very young man, said to Baum, “Do you know who the gentleman is who turned down your coat collar? Why that was Admiral Caspar Goodrich, U.S. Navy.” Baum replied, “And do you suppose Admiral Goodrich knows whose coat collar it was that he turned down?” Hotel del Coronado was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2007, and it was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
Green Park Inn (1891) Blowing Rock, North Carolina
The historic Green Park Inn was established in 1891 to serve summertime visitors to Blowing Rock, North Carolina—a destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains known for its serene surroundings. Built from hearty American Chestnut and Heart Pine, the inn is a beautiful example of Queen Anne-style architecture. Attracted to the peace and quiet of this charming retreat, author Margaret Mitchell stayed at the Green Park Inn between 1926 and 1929 to work on her famous novel, Gone with the Wind (1936). She had started the novel in Atlanta, but traveled to the inn to continue working on it. Mitchell stayed in Room 233 at the Green Park Inn. Over a decade later, in 1937, Mitchell returned to Blowing Rock and resided at the Green Park Inn while serving as a guest lecturer at the Blowing Rock School of English. It was the same year that she received the Pulitzer Prize for Gone with the Wind. Green Park Inn was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2012.
The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection (1901) New York, New York
Since its beginnings in 1901, The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection, has hosted New York City’s artists and literati: writers, actors, producers, playwrights, critics, tastemakers, and publishers. Writers like H. L. Mencken, Maya Angelou, and Gertrude Stein called the hotel home when visiting New York, and the hotel is best known for hosting The Algonquin Round Table. In 1919, literary juggernauts including Dorothy Parker, Franklin P. Adams, Robert Benchley, Harold Ross, Robert E. Sherwood, and Alexander Woollcott met for lunch in the hotel’s Oak Room and inaugurated what they called the “Vicious Circle,” better known as The Algonquin Round Table. It was rumored to have been so much fun that they met the next day and kept meeting regularly for a decade to let off steam with similar minds while discussing writing projects, art, politics, and gossip. The New Yorker magazine was founded by Harold Ross in 1925 and influenced by the Round Table. By then, the Algonquin Hotel and the Round Table were synonymous. This historic hotel was added to the Literary Landmarks™ Register by the Friends of Libraries Association U.S.A. in 1996. Today, this literary history remains ingrained in the fabric of the hotel. The Round Table restaurant, named fondly after the famed group of writers, still inspires with a tasteful and modern take on American cuisine, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to hotel guests and locals alike. It is also an enduring tradition that the hotel lobby keeps a pet cat, named either Matilda or Hamlet—appropriate names for a literary hotel. Since 2017, Hamlet VIII has greeted guests from his cat tree in the lobby. The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection, was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2023.
El Tovar Hotel (1905) Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
El Tovar Hotel and its location on the edge of the Grand Canyon deeply influenced the writings of Zane Grey, one of America’s most prolific and popular early-20th century Western authors. Grey visited El Tovar Hotel in 1907, just two years after it was constructed by the Fred Harvey Company, and he was captivated by the vastness of the Grand Canyon, with its towering cliffs and deep gorges. The vista stirred his imagination and inspired him to explore themes of adventure, courage, and the untamed wilderness in novels like The Vanishing American (1925), The Heritage of the Desert (1910), and The Call of the Canyon (1924). By incorporating his impressions of the Grand Canyon into his stories, Grey hoped to transport readers to the dramatic landscapes of the American West, and his books helped to popularize the Grand Canyon as a symbol of the West. Today, El Tovar Hotel is considered the premier lodging facility at Grand Canyon National Park. Constructed of native stone and Oregon pine, this historic hotel was built as a destination resort and provides an air of venerable dignity. Located just steps from the rim of the canyon, it is one of only a handful of Harvey House facilities still in operation today. To celebrate this famous literary guest, El Tovar Hotel offers guests the chance to stay in the Zane Grey Suite, complete with an attached sitting area and balcony, and appointed with unique wall art reminiscent of the author’s works. El Tovar Hotel is part of Grand Canyon National Park, and was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2012.
The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco (1907) San Francisco, California
Stay in a room with a view and a library at The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco, where guests can book the 6,000 sq ft Penthouse Suite that spans the entire eighth floor of the hotel, and has hosted kings, rock stars and presidents. The suite’s library spans two stories, complete with a domed ceiling decorated with an original gold-leaf celestial map. There is even a secret passage behind one of the bookcases, through which Marilyn Monroe is rumored to have discreetly passed through after meeting with President John F. Kennedy. This unique suite spotlights the city’s celebrated skyline, famous bay, and signature landmarks from large windows. Custom furnishings, hand-carved wood, and original artwork by famous artists like David Hockney accent the regal golds, purples, and blues, setting the tone of the suite’s 1920s eclectic opulence. The library’s holdings are from the private literary collection of a former owner of the hotel. Benjamin Swig lived in the Penthouse Suite with his family until his death in 1980. The following year, the residence was turned into an exclusive suite for guests. Most of the books in the Penthouse library were curated and donated by the Swig Family. Guests can book the Penthouse Suite, grab a book, and escape the mundane from the suite’s private balcony, with sweeping views of the city and the bay. The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco was inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2001.
The Plaza (1907) New York, New York
The Plaza in New York City has a rich history of hosting numerous authors and writers throughout the years. Many literary figures have stayed at The Plaza or frequented its renowned Oak Room and Palm Court, drawing inspiration from its luxurious surroundings and iconic ambiance. Notably, the hotel was a favorite haunt of authors F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald, who were known for their extravagant lifestyle and often stayed at The Plaza during their time in New York City.
Contacts
Katherine Orr
Historic Hotels of America® │ Historic Hotels Worldwide®
Director, Marketing Strategy and Communications
Tel: +1-202-772-8337
korr@historichotels.org
