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To get a sense of the places that inspired the Great Gatsby and F Scott Fitzgerald's decadent lifestyle, visit the hotels in the US and Europe he spent much of his life in
More jazz-age glamour: the best speakeasy bars in New York
F Scott Fitzgerald's short life was restless. He never set down roots, instead drifting from glittering 1920s New York and France to Switzerland and the American south in the 30s, with many waypoints in between. Hotels were a defining part of his existence, providing not only temporary homes, but also places to gather material and write.
For those who dream of inhabiting his glamorous world, Fitzgerald left behind ample documentation of his whereabouts, including his choice of accommodation. The 10 hotels I've selected follow the Fitzgeralds' life across the US and Europe. Happily, they all continue to welcome guests – and if some room rates are a bit pricey, all have bars, restaurants and even themed events where you can enjoy the ambiance of the author's era for a few hours. As Jay Gatsby said: "Can't repeat the past? Why of course you can!"
The Peacock Inn, Princeton, New Jersey
As a Princeton undergraduate, Fitzgerald talked books with friends over meals at the Peacock Inn, a 16-room boutique hotel and restaurant a stone's throw from the campus that inspired his debut novel, This Side of Paradise. During return visits in the late 1920s, he is said to have preferred the inn's basement, then the town speakeasy. This illicit history is preserved in three murals by Jazz Age artist (and Fitzgerald book cover illustrator) John Held Jr, discovered on the basement's walls during renovations and relocated to the restaurant. Today, diners can admire the murals while sampling seasonal, upscale American fare like crispy soft shell crab and seared Long Island duck breast.
• +1 609 924 1707, peacockinn.com. Doubles from $275 plus local taxes
The Plaza Hotel, New York City
Gatsby buffs know that one of the novel's key scenes unfolds at the Plaza – a fact the hotel celebrates with its new Fitzgerald Suite, a lush art deco fantasy in smoky charcoal tones. Those whose pockets lack the depth of Tom Buchanan's can still enjoy a host of Fitzgerald-inspired experiences at this hotel, adjacent to Central Park, that so captured his imagination, such as the plush Rose Club lounge's twice-weekly, jazz- and cocktail-soaked Gatsby Hour or the Fitzgerald Tea for the Ages, set beneath the Palm Court's intricate skylight.
• +1 212 759 3000, theplazany.com. Doubles from $595 plus local taxes
The Willard, Washington DC
Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, stayed at this 335-room grand dame shortly after their 1920 marriage, a stopover on a madcap road trip from Connecticut to Zelda's hometown of Montgomery, Alabama. It seems that neither the Willard's lavish, beaux-arts interiors nor its reputation as hostelry-cum-watering hole of presidents and foreign diplomats could impress the pair; in a jointly-written 1934 travel essay, they recalled that the hotel smelled "of peaches and hot biscuit and the cindery aroma of travelling salesmen". Less world-weary visitors might enjoy strolling the shop-lined corridor known as Peacock Alley or sipping mint juleps in the Round Robin bar – both of which have long been notorious hotspots for the capital's movers and shakers.
• +1 202 628 9100, washington.intercontinental.com. Doubles from $299 plus local taxes
The Saint James Albany, Paris
On their first, brief tour of Europe in 1921, this 17th-century edifice, situated near the Right Bank neighbourhood, provided a Parisian base for the couple … until bad behaviour led to their ejection. Chief among their crimes was eliminating waiting time by rigging the lift to their floor with a belt. Guests conducting themselves with more decorum than Scott and Zelda will be rewarded with access to an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor dining terrace, and tranquil courtyard gardens, all within shouting distance of the Tuileries and the Louvre.
• +33 1 4458 4321, saintjamesalbany.com. Doubles from €208
Claridge's, London
If interior architect Basil Ionides' 1929 overhaul transformed Claridge's into the self-appointed "art deco jewel of Mayfair", the Fitzgeralds' 1921 stay at the hotel might be regarded as a harbinger of the glamour to come. Lest they be caught off-guard at the 20s-themed parties sure to follow from the current Gatsby mania, Claridge's visitors can hone their flapper skills in a Charleston masterclass, held monthly. The shimmy-averse might prefer to debate the merits of Fitzgerald's short fiction over afternoon tea in the hotel's aptly-named, deco-inflected Reading Room.
• 020 7629 8860, claridges.co.uk. Doubles from £300
Hôtel de Paris, Monte Carlo
Quick getaways around the Riviera provided diversion in mid-1924, when Fitzgerald was writing The Great Gatsby while living in St Raphaël. One such stop, Monte Carlo's sumptuous, sprawling, belle epoque Hôtel de Paris, reminded the couple of "a palace in a detective story" – a playful remark that suggests how hotels were always potential sources of material. With nightly live jazz, the hotel's Bar Américain is a good spot to make like a character from Tender is the Night. For a fee (from €45 for an adult), day visitors can access the hotel group's private beach for an activity that had begun to enjoy a great vogue during the Fitzgeralds' time in the region: sunbathing.
• +377 9806 3000, hoteldeparismontecarlo.com. Doubles from €460
Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Antibes, France
Fitzgerald, Zelda, and young daughter Scottie spent August 1925 sunning and socialising at the Hôtel du Cap, drawn there by friends Gerald and Sarah Murphy, artistic American expatriates who ran with the likes of Picasso, Cole Porter and Valentino. The Murphys had helped make the Riviera a fashionable summer destination, with the hotel as its hub. Today the hotel remains an A-lister favourite, particularly during Cannes film festival (opened this year, coincidentally, by Baz Luhrmann's take on Gatsby). To sample the rarefied air – and spectacular Mediterranean views – while skipping the stratospheric overnight rates, pop by the poolside Eden-Roc Grill for lunch or a sunset cocktail.
• +33 4 9361 3901, hotel-du-cap-eden-roc.com. Doubles from €800
Hôtel de la Paix, Lausanne, Switzerland
Trouble came to the Fitzgeralds in 1930 when the rapid deterioration of Zelda's mental health led to long-term hospitalisation at the Prangins Clinic on Lake Geneva. To be near her, the author lived for a time at Lausanne's Hôtel de la Paix, a stately city centre property with comfortable rooms, two bars and two restaurants. Rates include a generous buffet breakfast and a public transport pass. Those lucky enough to score a lake-facing room may find the hotel's greatest asset is its views over the waterfront and the Alps.
• +41 21 310 7171, hoteldelapaix.net. Doubles from €230
The Don CeSar, St Pete Beach, Florida
Stateside again following Zelda's dismissal from Prangins, the couple stayed at the "Pink Palace" – so called for its elaborate, candy-coloured facade – in early 1932. The 277-room hotel, on the Gulf of Mexico's pale sands, opened in 1928 as a stylish retreat for the well-heeled. Just as the Depression had muted the previous decade's excesses, though, the Fitzgeralds' former merriment now seemed displaced by sadness; their trip ended with the re-emergence of Zelda's psychiatric symptoms.
• +1 727 360 1881, loewshotels.com/don-cesar-hotel. Doubles from $179 plus local taxes
The Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina
A spell of tuberculosis followed by Zelda's hospitalisation in a nearby psychiatric facility brought Fitzgerald to the Grove Park Inn for long stretches between 1935 and 1937. This arts and crafts-style resort, with a golf course and expansive spa, is in the Blue Ridge mountains. While the author's misbehaviour didn't endear him to staff (he drank profusely and once fired a gun in his suite), today the inn commemorates its Fitzgerald connection each September (he was born on the 24th), with events like jazz nights and tours of his former rooms.
• +1 828 252 2711, groveparkinn.com. Doubles from $179 plus local taxes