The Lost Art of Hotel Golden Books: Why Luxury Hotels Should Bring Them Back

During my years at Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, I witnessed countless memorable guest experiences. But one tradition I've always found particularly compelling – and increasingly rare – is the hotel golden book.

Unlike the standard guestbooks you'll find at reception desks, golden books are something else entirely: leather-bound volumes reserved exclusively for the signatures, sketches, and musings of extraordinary guests. They're not marketing tools or vanity projects. At their best, they're living archives of cultural history, capturing the moments when creativity, power, and influence converged in a single place.

More Than Autographs

What distinguishes a true golden book from a simple celebrity autograph collection is artistic contribution. When Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc recently opened its historic golden book to public viewing, the pages revealed far more than signatures. Marc Chagall had created an original sketch during one of his fifteen summer stays at the hotel. Picasso contributed artwork and even designed a restaurant menu cover, gratis, simply because he loved the place.

These weren't obligatory scribbles before checkout. They were genuine expressions of affection for a place that had become meaningful to these artists.

More contemporary entries show the tradition evolving. Johnny Depp drew a self-portrait. Justin Timberlake added a cheeky confession about possibly taking towels. These moments of personality and humor transform a golden book from a stuffy register into something intimate and human.

The Question of Who Belongs

This raises an interesting curatorial challenge: who should sign a hotel's golden book?

The easy answer is "famous people" – but that feels insufficient. Fame alone doesn't justify inclusion in what should be a carefully curated historical document. I'd argue the criteria should be contribution: to culture, to art, to human experience, or even to the hotel's own story.

The most compelling golden books create unexpected dialogues across disciplines and generations. Imagine the Ritz Paris golden book, where fashion icon Coco Chanel (who lived at the hotel for over twenty years) might appear pages away from writer Ernest Hemingway, with opera legend Maria Callas nearby. These juxtapositions tell a richer story than any single category of celebrity could.

At Raffles Singapore, the golden book connects silent film star Charlie Chaplin from 1933 to Elizabeth Taylor's two visits decades later, including her 1993 stay with Michael Jackson. That's not just a list of famous names – it's a timeline of changing celebrity culture, captured in one volume.

According to the book RITZ, forty years in Lisbon, the book of honour at Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon tells its own story of illustrious guests: H.M. King Humberto of Italy, Ingrid Bergman, Princess Grace of Monaco, Henry Ford, Audrey Hepburn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, José Carreras, Dame Barbara Cartland, Ivan Lendl, John le Carré, António Banderas and Melanie Griffith, Bill Gates.

More recently, Madonna, Taylor Swift, and Cristiano Ronaldo have all been spotted by local press at the hotel. I wonder if they have been invited to sign the book?

When Hotels Become Part of Creative History

Some of the most fascinating golden book entries document moments of actual creation. The Beatles wrote "Can't Buy Me Love" at the George V Hotel in Paris in 1964, composing in their suite after requesting an upright piano. That's the kind of moment that belongs in a golden book – not just "The Beatles stayed here," but "The Beatles created something here that would become part of musical history."

Having worked in luxury hospitality for many years, I've seen how certain properties become more than accommodation for creative people. They become workspaces, sanctuaries, sources of inspiration. The Ritz Paris served this role for Marcel Proust and Marguerite Duras. Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles has been a creative refuge since 1929, with the old Hollywood saying capturing it perfectly: "If you want to be seen, go to the Beverly Hills Hotel. If you don't want to be seen, go to Chateau Marmont."

These aren't just places where famous people sleep. They're places where famous people work, create, take risks, and sometimes make history. Golden books document that relationship.

The Legacy Question

Some hotels have taken the concept further by naming suites after significant guests, creating permanent tributes to these relationships. At Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon, the Almada Negreiros suite features an original tapestry by the renowned Portuguese artist – a beautiful example of how a hotel can honor not just international celebrities but also cultural figures meaningful to the local context.

The Balmoral in Edinburgh honors J.K. Rowling, who completed the Harry Potter series there. That suite name tells guests: something culturally significant happened in this room. It's a form of storytelling that connects past to present.

If I could choose one suite to stay in, it would be the Coco Chanel suite at the Ritz Paris. Not because of the luxury (though it's extraordinary), but because of the story it tells about a woman who made that hotel her home for decades, who understood that true luxury isn't about ostentation but about creating a space that perfectly reflects who you are.

Why This Matters Now

In our current digital age, the golden book feels almost radical in its permanence. Instagram posts disappear into algorithmic feeds. TripAdvisor reviews get buried under newer content. But a golden book entry – particularly one with an original sketch or a thoughtful inscription – becomes part of a physical archive that will outlast any social media platform.

From my perspective in hospitality communications, I see golden books as underutilized storytelling assets. These aren't just internal archives; they're proof points of a hotel's cultural significance. They demonstrate that a property has been, and continues to be, a gathering place for people who shape our world.

But more than marketing value, golden books serve a deeper purpose: they create legacy. They transform a commercial transaction (a hotel stay) into something more meaningful – a moment of connection between a person and a place, documented for posterity.

Bringing Back the Tradition

I believe luxury hotels should actively revive the golden book tradition, but with intention. Not every guest should sign – that would dilute the meaning. The book should be reserved for moments that genuinely matter: when someone extraordinary stays, when something culturally significant happens, when a guest creates something meaningful during their visit.

The curation itself becomes part of the story. Future generations looking through a well-maintained golden book should be able to trace not just who was famous in a given era, but what kind of creativity and achievement a particular hotel valued and attracted.

Having seen firsthand at Four Seasons how the right staff can transform a guest experience from transactional to memorable, I know that hotels are at their best when they create spaces for human connection and cultural exchange. Golden books document that mission in its highest form.

They remind us that hotels, at their essence, are more than buildings with beds. They're stages where history unfolds, muses for creative genius, and witnesses to the defining moments of our time. Golden books are simply the proof.

What do you think? Should luxury hotels bring back golden books? And if you could leave an entry in one, what would you want to say or create?