My Night in a Living Library: A Book Lover's Paradise

The brass bell jingled as I pushed open the door to "The Marginalia" – an Airbnb where Dickens might feel at home. Immediately, the scent of ageing paper and Earl Grey enveloped me. Floor-to-ceiling shelves groaned under centuries of stories, with wheeled ladders granting access to the upper realms. My host Eleanor handed me a key shaped like a quill: "Your bed's behind the Edwardian travel section. Mind the cats – they believe they're literary critics."

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The Shelved Suite

My "room" was a velvet-draped alcove with:

● A four-poster bed with Middlemarch bedside tables 

● Reading nooks tucked into bay windows

● A secret door to a tiny balcony overlooking Bath's abbey

That first night, I fell asleep to the whisper of pages settling – only to wake at 3am convinced Wuthering Heights' Catherine haunted the Brontë corner.

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Breakfast Among First Editions

Morning revealed the café nook's magic:

● Porridge served in vintage Chamber Pots china 

● Eleanor's homemade marmalade labelled "Oranges of Wrath"

● The calico cat Mr. Darcy stealing my crumpet

 

We discussed neglected 1930s poets while sunlight gilded dust motes dancing around Ulysses. 

The Parking Epiphany

Pre-booking airport parking Gatwick saved my sanity. Still buzzing from discovering a signed Woolf first edition, I surrendered my car keys to a bemused valet at Departures. Two minutes later, I was through security – no shuttle bus purgatory. You can compare airport parking in the UK on Ezybook.co.uk an airport parking comparison platform.

Why This Stay Changed Me

Leaving felt like parting from Narnia. My suitcase now contained:

● Sand from the Sahara (stolen from The English Patient's pages)

● Eleanor's handwritten P.G. Wodehouse walking tour map

● The realisation that travel's true magic hides in places where stories breathe

You haven't truly rested until you've fallen asleep pondering whether Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie would approve of your pyjamas.

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