I’ve always been fascinated by hotels and I’m a big fan of armchair travel, so books set in hotels are a favorite of mine! I put together a list of fabulous hotel novels to transport you to grandiose hotels, seedy motels, strange chateaus, and everything in between.
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Best Novels Set In Hotels
Staying in a hotel is such a unique experience. There’s so much going on around you, from the hotel’s history to the busy (or relaxed) lives of other guests.
Enjoying hotels in fiction is no different – the setting adds an additional layer of intrigue or whimsy to the story.
The list of hotel novels below features a multitude of genres, from mystery/thriller and general fiction to fantasy, historical fiction, romance, and beyond. I wanted to give you a lot of different options to make sure you’ll find something to suit your tastes. Enjoy!
General Fiction, Romance & Historical Fiction Hotel Novels
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Genre: Historical Fiction
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Synopsis: This beautifully-written historical fiction novel follows a Russian aristocrat in 1922 who is sentenced to a decades-long “house arrest” in the attic of an old, grand hotel.
The Maid by Nita Prose
Genre: Mystery/Contemporary Fiction
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Synopsis: The Maid is like a cross between Agatha Christie/Clue and Eleanor Oliphant. It’s about a woman named Molly who works as a maid in a fancy hotel. She has trouble understanding social cues, and lives her life by the teachings of her beloved Gran. But things take a turn when she finds a man dead in his room, and she becomes involved in a murder investigation.
Here are more details about The Maid series by Nita Prose!
Grand Hotel Europa by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
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Synopsis: A writer takes up residence at the Grand Hotel Europa – an aging hotel with an eccentric staff – and becomes enamored with its mysteries, all while contemplating his travels all over Europe with the love of his life.
Meet Me At The Lake by Carley Fortune
Genre: Romance/Contemporary Fiction
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Synopsis: After a whirlwind 24 hours together, Fern Brookbanks and Will Baxter make a pact to meet up one year later. Fern shows up, but Will doesn’t. Nine years later, Fern is begrudgingly running her mother’s lakeside resort, and she’s desperate for help. To her surprise, Will Baxter shows up. He wants to help – but Fern can tell he’s hiding something.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Genre: Historical Fiction
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Synopsis: Decades after Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps during World War II, a decrepit hotel – what was once the gateway to one of those camps – falls under new ownership. Long-lost items are rediscovered, bringing back tides of memories for the people who once occupied the hotel.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Contemporary/Literary Fiction/Mystery
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Synopsis: This wide-spanning novel (written by the author of Station Eleven) features multiple storylines, including the collapse of a massive Ponzi scheme and the disappearance of a woman at sea. It interweaves a multitude of settings, one of which is a five-star hotel on Vancouver Island.
Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Magical Realism
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Synopsis: As a child, Tilly lived in Brighton at Queenie Malone’s Magnificent Paradise Hotel, and she loved it. But one day, her mother inexplicably sent her away to boarding school. Years later, when Tilly’s mother dies, she returns to the hotel in order to piece together why she was sent away all those years ago – and there’s more to the story than she realizes.
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Genre: Contemporary Romance
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Synopsis: By some coincidence, a young woman and her sworn enemy end up with an all-expenses-paid honeymoon vacation. The woman’s boss ends up staying at the same hotel, which forces the couple to pretend they’re actually head-over-heels newlyweds.
Last Summer At The Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
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Synopsis: Two families reunite at a hotel in the Catskills that they bought together 60 years prior. Unfortunately, the hotel – once a hot summer vacation spot – has gone way downhill. The families must work together to save their hotel, amid all the secrets, drama, and scandals that surround them.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Genre: Historical Fiction/Contemporary Fiction
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Synopsis: An ailing actress travels to a small Italian coastal village, and meets a local man whose family owns a small hotel there. He has big dreams for turning the small hotel and village into a popular resort town. The story continues, bouncing between timelines and points of view, as the reader gets a glimpse into the lives of flawed yet deeply human characters.
Fantasy, Horror & Mystery Novels Set in Hotels
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror
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Synopsis: A young woman travels to a small town to find out what happened to her aunt, who disappeared years ago after working the night shift at a seedy motel. She quickly finds out the town has a sordid history of suspicious murders.
The Shining by Stephen King
Genre: Horror
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Synopsis: You can’t have a list of hotel novels without including this classic hotel horror story! The Shining follows the Torrance family as they agree to take care of the remote and eerie Overlook Hotel during the off-season, with a harsh winter brewing.
You might also enjoy these spine-tingling haunted house books!
Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia
Genre: Mystery/Humor Fiction
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Synopsis: This genre-bending hotel novel features an eccentric cast, plenty of pop-culture references, and an old – but grand – hotel that was the site of a murder years prior.
Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor
Genre: Fantasy/Young Adult/Mystery
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Synopsis: A teenage girl joins the staff of a magical hotel that travels from town to town, desperate to learn everything about it. But the hotel is hiding dark secrets, and she uncovers much more than she bargained for.
The Club by Ellery Lloyd
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
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Synopsis: This locked-room murder mystery features a remote island setting at an exclusive resort club for top-tier, uber-rich celebrities.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
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Synopsis: A woman (who happens to be a detective) is invited to an isolated sanatorium-turned-luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps to celebrate her brother’s recent engagement. But soon, a storm rolls in – and someone goes missing.
Classic Hotel Novels
Last but not least, here are some classic novels set in hotels to read:
- A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
- Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
- The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
- Psycho by Robert Bloch
- At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
Whether you have a thing for spooky hotels or you’re hoping to (armchair) travel somewhere beautiful, I hope you enjoy these hotel novels!
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