Boasting four-star comfort, the hotel has one of the most beautiful views of Clermont. The terrace of the 6th floor offers a 180° view of Puy de Dome, Chaîne des Puys and the spires of the cathedral.
Surrounded by her team, manager Muriel Imbert cannot do enough for her guests every day, giving them all her attention and impeccable service to ensure that their cultural stay is as pleasant as it is adapted to everyone’s individual tastes.
The decoration offers a light-hearted journey on discovery of Vialatte and his work. Architect Aude Bruguière, who worked on the two previous Hôtel Littéraire, and again assisted by interior designer Aleth Prime, wanted to compose a harmonious ensemble on the themes of Auvergne and the illustrators dear to the writer.
You can find hints to the advertising posters that Vialatte liked to comment on: the Bibendum Michelin, the Singer sewing machine or La Dame du Job. The drawing theme recalls his taste for cartoonists of his time such as Sempé and Chaval. A portrait of Vialatte in the manner of Jean Dubuffet decorates the reception and evokes the deep friendship that united the two men, whose correspondence makes wonderful reading.
On the terrace on the sixth floor, we present a reproduction of “Pharmaciens fuyant l’orage” [Pharmacists fleeing the storm] by Chaval, with the hilarious column written by Vialatte.
Our cocktail bar publishes some of his whimsical horoscopes around the signs of the zodiac that he prophesied with humour in his columns.
The hotel’s different floors are organised in the best way possible to give an overview of Vialatte’s talents and activities. The 1st floor tells us about him as a novelist, the 2nd and 3rd floors tell us about him as a columnist, the 4th floor focuses on him as a translator, the 5th floor refers to his friends and the 6th floor describes the places the writer used to love in the region of Auvergne. On every floor, there is a quote taken from either one of his novels, columns or correspondence, thus taking us even deeper into Vialatte’s world and making us want to read more of him or about him.
In addition to having a number, the 62 rooms in the Hôtel Littéraire Alexandre Vialatte are named after a character from a novel, a column, a translation, a friend or a place in Auvergne. As a result, one can find rooms with names like Frédéric Lamourette, Monsieur Panado, Chronique des choses plus grandes que l’homme, Chronique du dernier ronchonnement, Henri Pourrat or Ambert. In every room there’s a text to help the visitors understand how the name was picked from the life and work of Alexandre Vialatte and there are also quotes from his books and correspondence. Our watercolourist Jean Aubertin, who had previously worked for the Swann and Flaubert hotels, has painted an original work for every room.
The Hôtel Littéraire Alexandre Vialatte offers its visitors a library of more than five hundred books. Pocket editions for rereading the writer’s columns, but also rare editions for bibliophiles. The collection of short stories Badonce et les créatures and the novels Battling le ténébreux, Les fruits du Congo, La Dame du Job and La maison du joueur de flûte are available in the original edition on large paper, as are Le Fluide rouge and L’auberge de Jérusalem. Part of the 900 columns Alexandre Vialatte wrote were published in the newspaper La Montagne between 1952 and 1971 and others from Spectacle du Monde were gathered by Ferny Besson published by Julliard. We have the advance copy of the original edition of the set of titles: Dernières nouvelles de l’homme, Et c’est ainsi qu’Allah est grand, L’éléphant est irréfutable, Almanach des quatre saisons, Antiquité du grand chosier, Bananes de Königsberg, La porte de Bath-Rabbim, Éloge du homard et autres insectes inutiles, Les champignons du détroit de Behring, Chronique des grands Micmacs, Profitons de l’ornithorynque, Chronique des immenses possibilités, Pas de H pour Natalie.
A permanent exhibition of the sculptures of his friend and accomplice Philippe Kaeppelin can be seen in the showcases on the ground floor, with the poetic titles that Vialatte gave them.
Events are organised regularly with the aim of making the Hôtel Littéraire Alexandre Vialatte a real cultural centre in Clermont-Ferrand and in the region. The most prestigious event is the Alexandre Vialatte literary prize, awarded every year to a book whose author presents disturbing resemblances to the Vialattian spirit. The prize, which is endowed by the La Montagne/Centrefrance group, amounts to 6105 euro, that is, “the sum of the height of Puy de Dôme and the length of the Congo River“. The day after the award ceremony in Paris, the winner and all the members of this prestigious jury of journalists and writers which is renewed every two years, go to the Hôtel Littéraire Alexandre Vialatte for a Clermont version of the prize.
We also organise exhibitions of art and photography bindings and we are partners in cultural events in Clermont-Ferrand, such as the famous rendezvous of Carnets de Voyage in November, to offer our guests varied artistic emotions.
« Auvergne produces cabinet ministers, cheeses and volcanoes » Alexandre Vialatte said. Our Hôtel Littéraire should thus become your favourite place to stay in Auvergne. We will make you love our volcanic stone and give you good advice for a gourmet and cultural stay to make you want to come back.
