The Library Hotel

Reading Roberto Bolano over prosecco, next to a grand piano. Even when all is silent in the Reading Room, one hears the music of words!

We knew we were in for special treatment when the doorman, bowing, ushered us into the lobby. We felt like faculty in the library of a prestigious university, eager to retire to our books. Indeed, the staff addressed our needs and the details of our stay with librarian meticulousness. With the aid of a clean shower, complimentary room slippers, and in wise company of almanacs, we decompressed in our room on the “General Knowledge” floor. With a hint from the hotel’s name, we delighted in the discovery that the Dewey Decimal system binds floor to floor in 6,000 volumes of a bibliophile’s bliss.

An evening sample of wine and cheese followed in the Reading Room, a niche of civility where plush leather seats nestle into cutaways of walls well-stocked with tomes – this place conjures the comfort of a rich uncle’s study. Next was the in-house Madison & Vine restaurant: fresh salmon under a crispy crust and tender asparagus danced on the palate. As time dissolved in our wine glasses, the restaurant staff graciously ushered us to the rooftop ‘Bookmarks’ bar and terrace. Like lounge lizards we basked in the warmth of a summer evening, prizing our parapet amid New York’s night shimmer and an Empire eavesdropper. The literary-themed cocktails piqued our interest until it was time to put ourselves back on the shelves. The next days followed a similar trajectory; we returned from city sights with old friends, sharing Library privileges of brie and prosecco and sipping “Hemingway” cocktails under the shining spires of Manhattan.