Read up: Hotel libraries overflow with stylish books

Reading room: the Taschen Library at the Trump Soho Hotel in New York City.

By Mark Chesnut

Sure, ebooks have made it easier for travelers to bring all the reading material they need when on the road. But a growing number of luxury hotels have introduced their own stylish collection of coffee table books and even business books — so whether you’re planning a Mexico vacation or hopping among New York hotels, you can find a worthy alternative to that well-traveled iPad.

In the Big Apple, the Trump Soho New York is home to the Taschen Library, a contemporary yet cozy lounge stocked with giant coffee table books from Taschen, the famed publisher of photography, design and pop culture tomes. St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, meanwhile, has a partnership with bespoke publisher Thornwillow Press, and has introduced books by historian Lesley M. M. Blume and cocktail specialist Jeff Pogash at The St. Regis New York and St. Regis Washington D.C.

Art, design, architecture and fashion are among the topics addressed in the luxuriant works in stock at Hotel Brick, a boutique property in Mexico City that features books by Assouline Publishing. That same publisher is providing content at the St. Regis Florence in Italy, where the lobby bar is laden with coffee table books.

Cambodia-bound travelers looking for something different should consider the aptly named Lebiz Hotel + Library in Phnom Penh, where guests can make use of a multimedia library built into the hotel lobby, complete with business journals and artsy works. As with the other hotels that now stock their own decidedly cool libraries, you won’t go hungry or thirsty while enjoying the collection; drinks and appetizers are served. It just might be reason enough to stop staring at that computer screen.

Related resources

• Bangkok hotels
• Florence hotels
• New York hotels
• Washington D.C. hotels

Mark Chesnut is an editor, writer and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to LatinAmerica. He wishes airplanes had libraries, too.

Tagged: Europe, Hotels, Mexico