I loved every page of this memoir. It’s such a revealing, funny, wonderfully candid take on a profession I’ve always thought would be fascinating (albeit backbreakingly hard work). Read it now. Then go out to dinner.

A light, Wodehousian, chuckle-a-minute read that is sadly rather unmemorable, though the temporary pleasures of it are a respire to the weary reader. Bemelmans' writing oscillates between being functional and drawing humour from the characters around him, but it never rises beyond that to leave a lasting impression of any kind.

I have to admit to being disappointed by this book. Described as ‘uproariously funny’ and ‘hilarious’ by the publisher, I’d suggest that “faintly amusing in parts, but mainly just quite odd” would be a more accurate description.

A funny memoir that I thought I would dip in and out of once in a while and instead devoured in one sitting this weekend. A truly wonderful book.

Delightful, Extravagant, Eccentric…
1920’s New York, the Hotel Splendide. Amidst this delightful, extravagant and rather majestic place chaos and eccentricity abound in bucketfuls. A classic of a memoir in every way, recounting tales of the hotel both upstairs and down, from staff to the guests. Extremely amusing, delightfully witty, keenly observed and enhanced with wonderfully done and quite charming illustrations. A joy.

A very entertaining read, although as it seems to be republications of various essays it was rather disjointed. The essays all cover the author's time spent working in various roles at a grand old New York hotel, the Splendide. Some characters and threads are followed over time, some appear only briefly, meaning we are sometimes left wondering what happened to a particular person or how the author progressed from one job to another. On the whole, though it gives a fascinating glimpse into 1920s society.

Many moons ago, I enjoyed the Madeline picture books by Bemelmans and remembered the odd name of the author. That was enough to want to read “Hotel Splendide”.
This is a fictionalised memoir of his time as a waiter in a top-class hotel in 1920s NYC. It is a quick-witted, if melancholic, portrayal of the eccentric characters serving and being served in this establishment - full of enjoyable vignettes.
The description of various idiosynchrasies, mannerisms and tics is done with the exacting, often cruel, observation of the keen draughtsman that Bemelmans is.
The only 11 pages I did not care for were for the retelling of Petronius’s Trimalchio story.
All in all, a mesmerising insight into a bygone world.