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Hotel Bemelmans #1
Hotel Bemelmans
The creator of the Madeline books offers a zany, autobiographical look at behind-the-scenes kitchen life at the Ritz in 1920s and 1930s New York, chronicling the zany antics and characters at the pseudonymous Hotel Splendide in twenty-four whimsical tales and original drawings. 15,000 first printing.
302 pages, Hardcover
First published October 10, 2002
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901 people want to read
About the author
Ludwig Bemelmans
170 books423 followersLudwig Bemelmans was an Austrian author, an internationally known gourmand, and a writer and illustrator of children's books. He is most noted today for his Madeline books, six of which were published from 1939-1961. A seventh was discovered after his death and published posthumously in 1999.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
February 1, 2009
I am really glad that I read this for book club. I probably would not have picked it up otherwise. I gave it four stars for Bemelmans' descriptive passages. Here's one of my favorites descriptions of a waiter that has dreams of becoming a boxer and is very fastidious in caring for his boxer's physique: "He has immaculate linen, fine muscles, and he brings his chest out of the shower as if it were a glass case full of jewels." Another one I liked was his description of a very particular restaurant guest who polished his whole place setting before he allowed his meal to be served in a very specific way (today we'd probably say he had O.C.D.): "To this atmosphere of Te Deum and fetish, the ascetic countenance of Mr. Tannenebaum was entirely appropriate. It was the face of a man a few days drowned, his hair the colour of ashes." I think these passages are great examples of how he brings his artist's eye (he wrote and illustrated the 'Madeine' children's books for example) to give the reader an arresting and clear visual while succinctly capturing the essence of the subject's personality as well. I think it's genius, but maybe I need to get out more. These short life sketches are a good example of 'slice-of-life' writing as they really have no connecting theme other than the fact that they all occurred during the time of Bemelmans' life when he worked in a ritzy New York hotel during the 20's. Besides the great character sketches, there are some interesting details of life from this time that appealed to my inner history buff.
June 8, 2017
I love used books stores. I could never describe them with the magical, fairy tale whimsy of Bradbury, but, aside from that wonderfully addicting aroma of well worn pages that permeates used bookstores, lulling you into a sort of trance, it's because I find books like this that I love them.
Having worked in hospitality a long time, finding this book was like Christmas. With an introduction by Anthony Bourdain, Hotel Bemelmans is a scratch collection of the kinds of stories that are told behind the doors and in the sculleries of the service industry, woven together to form a portrait of hotel high society, it’s plethora of minions, and the dirt that hides in the cracks. You feel like a fly on the wall as Bemelman describes the oddball cast of characters that inhabit the “Hotel Splendide” in New York in the first decades of the turn of the century, and while those who have never worked in the industry in some form or another might simply find these accounts mildly interesting, I considered it a treasure trove of all the sights, smells, pitfalls and pratfalls, and one-of-a-kind hard cases found in almost every branch of the hospitality industry, all described with loving affection in wonderfully descriptive detail by Bemelman.
“...He was again in charge of the monkey house, the dismal corner of the restaurant where the carpet was patched, where service doors banged, where draughts of cold air came down from ventilators directly overhead, and cooking smells, mixed with the vapours of dishwater, came in warm waves from the kitchen...”
Like eavesdropping on a group of hotel employees as they skulk about their duties, exhibiting both great pride and great disdain for their vocations and imparting the dirty secrets of the high brow society that stayed there, The Splendide feels like something entirely fictional (it isn’t).
Beginning in a small Austrian town, where Bemelman grew up at his father’s brewery and exhibited a rapscallious penchant for trouble making, eventually sent to the United States with a nothing but a brace of pistols to fend off Indians and a letter of introduction, Hotel Bemelman reads like a nostalgic urban adventure, the likes of which many of us have had some kind of experience with at some time or another.
Beautifully written descriptive prose, fascinating, humorous stories, fly-on-the-wall insight into a world that no one ever sees outside of the industry, and characters that will stay with you long after you’ve closed the book. Books like this don’t come along very often. It may not be considered a classic, and I’m sure that very few people outside of Bemelman fans (he authored and illustrated the ‘Madeline’ series of children’s books) would even know the book exists. But, while this book may not be everyone’s cuppa, it’s well worth a read, and a perfect companion for the subway ride home after work.
Having worked in hospitality a long time, finding this book was like Christmas. With an introduction by Anthony Bourdain, Hotel Bemelmans is a scratch collection of the kinds of stories that are told behind the doors and in the sculleries of the service industry, woven together to form a portrait of hotel high society, it’s plethora of minions, and the dirt that hides in the cracks. You feel like a fly on the wall as Bemelman describes the oddball cast of characters that inhabit the “Hotel Splendide” in New York in the first decades of the turn of the century, and while those who have never worked in the industry in some form or another might simply find these accounts mildly interesting, I considered it a treasure trove of all the sights, smells, pitfalls and pratfalls, and one-of-a-kind hard cases found in almost every branch of the hospitality industry, all described with loving affection in wonderfully descriptive detail by Bemelman.
“...He was again in charge of the monkey house, the dismal corner of the restaurant where the carpet was patched, where service doors banged, where draughts of cold air came down from ventilators directly overhead, and cooking smells, mixed with the vapours of dishwater, came in warm waves from the kitchen...”
Like eavesdropping on a group of hotel employees as they skulk about their duties, exhibiting both great pride and great disdain for their vocations and imparting the dirty secrets of the high brow society that stayed there, The Splendide feels like something entirely fictional (it isn’t).
Beginning in a small Austrian town, where Bemelman grew up at his father’s brewery and exhibited a rapscallious penchant for trouble making, eventually sent to the United States with a nothing but a brace of pistols to fend off Indians and a letter of introduction, Hotel Bemelman reads like a nostalgic urban adventure, the likes of which many of us have had some kind of experience with at some time or another.
Beautifully written descriptive prose, fascinating, humorous stories, fly-on-the-wall insight into a world that no one ever sees outside of the industry, and characters that will stay with you long after you’ve closed the book. Books like this don’t come along very often. It may not be considered a classic, and I’m sure that very few people outside of Bemelman fans (he authored and illustrated the ‘Madeline’ series of children’s books) would even know the book exists. But, while this book may not be everyone’s cuppa, it’s well worth a read, and a perfect companion for the subway ride home after work.
July 7, 2019
It was the great Anthony Bourdain's recommendation that inspired me to seek this out and read it. It's a memoir from the fellow best known as the author of the Madeleine books. Well, a memoir of sorts, but probably the "non-fiction" tag can be applied with a pinch of salt, given the outlandish yarns found in this florilegium. It's a collection of sybaritic scenes and larger than life characters in the great Ritz Carlton where Bemelmans found himself after being sent to America for, depending on what you believe, chafing at discipline at his uncle's hotel or shooting a busboy. There's a competent but noble Lothario of a magician; a waiter who becomes a millionaire after his stockbroker customers give him stock tips; a washer who proudly dresses himself in an ornate uniform; and many other memorable employees. The clientele is more often than not portrayed as spoiled and snooty, while the management fusses over them in hopes of big cash payouts which rarely ensue. It's an amusing book in all, not uproariously funny; nor is it exactly a bombshell of an exposé of the hotel industry. Despite the satire, it's largely a tender-hearted look at the hotel business, a sort of love letter to the schemers, the corrupt, and the incompetent who keep a place like the Ritz going.
July 5, 2013
I was very curious about this adult book written by the author of the Madeline books. However, after reading it, I sadly have to conclude I wouldn’t have been that interested in it without that author connection. It wasn’t really my cup of tea. It was a series of mildly funny. behind-the-scenes vignettes about working in the hotel industry in New York City. The hotel is ostensibly loosely disguised as the Ritz, where Bemelman himself had worked after coming to America at the age of 16 from Austria. It was entertaining, and his hand-drawn illustrations really show a connection to the same style as the drawing in the Madeline books, but I just don’t personally care that much for this type of a book. Maybe because I’ve never been a waiter or a hotel employee; I don’t know. I sure have worked every other service industry job out there, though! But I’m not really drawn to what one other reviewer described as “the underbelly” of the restaurant/hotel scene.
PS I did learn some other interesting things Bemelman did: many cover illustrations for The New Yorker; a set for a Broadway show; and famous murals on the walls at a hotel in NYC (Carlyle’s) (the bar there is now named Bemelmans in his honor and his mural showing Central Park has Madeline painted into it).
PS I did learn some other interesting things Bemelman did: many cover illustrations for The New Yorker; a set for a Broadway show; and famous murals on the walls at a hotel in NYC (Carlyle’s) (the bar there is now named Bemelmans in his honor and his mural showing Central Park has Madeline painted into it).
April 10, 2015
Most famously known as the author of the "Madeline" children's book series, Ludwig Bemelmans was also a famous gourmet hotelier and restaurateur. Set during the 1920s and '30s, Bemelmans offers funny and slightly embellished takes on the cynical world of the hotel and service industries. The 24 semi-autobiographical short stories follow Bemelmans life as a troubled youth in Austria to traveling to America sweating away in kitchens while working towards being one of the greatest culinary personalities.
Before the modern day food personalities such as Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsey, there was Ludwig Bemelmans. Always a troublemaker and rapscallion, Bemelmans was kicked out of several schools in Austria and had the opportunity to leave for America to work in hotel kitchens. He worked with men of all ages and backgrounds who managed to provide exceptional service while living tired and poor lives. Through hard work, thievery, and cunning, Bemelmans worked his way to the top of the service hierarchy managing several restaurants and hotels. While the state of the service industry has drastically improved over the last 80 years, much of the spirit has remained the same. It as an insightful look into a world where madness and genius collide and excess rules over everything.
Before the modern day food personalities such as Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsey, there was Ludwig Bemelmans. Always a troublemaker and rapscallion, Bemelmans was kicked out of several schools in Austria and had the opportunity to leave for America to work in hotel kitchens. He worked with men of all ages and backgrounds who managed to provide exceptional service while living tired and poor lives. Through hard work, thievery, and cunning, Bemelmans worked his way to the top of the service hierarchy managing several restaurants and hotels. While the state of the service industry has drastically improved over the last 80 years, much of the spirit has remained the same. It as an insightful look into a world where madness and genius collide and excess rules over everything.
September 20, 2015
I always enjoying getting to read a "grown-up" work by a children's author. Bemelmans (famous for the Madeline series) is far from the kind and benevolent figure that I would have envisioned for Madeline's creator (I can much more likely envision him creating Eloise - the little girl who lives in the Plaza). He is a man who has lived a precarious life all over the world (mostly in hotels) and in each locale truly having adventures. These memoirs highlight the years that he spent working in hotels, primarily in New York during the glamorous 1920s, a time when staying and dining at hotels was a real experience - something to get dressed up for. Bemelmans descriptive style is excellent and really transports you to the time and place. Although not structured as short stories (at least, that I remeber), the chapters can easily be read that way, making it good subway reading. Beyond the consistency of the characters in the hotel, there is no real plot, leaving you with plenty of time just to enjoy the verbal scenery.
October 21, 2013
I originally received this book as a gift when I was going through a serious foodie phase of my life. Back then I had a hard time getting into it because it really wasn't about food at all; but now that I've distanced myself from that period I was able to read it and really appreciate it for what this book is - a humorous observation of the life of those working in the restaurant/hotel service industry during the early 20th century (Bemelmans worked for the NYC's Ritz Carlton in his late teens). This makes it a natural fit for the introduction by "Kitchen Confidentials" Anthony Bourdain (who calls Bemelman the original bad boy of the New York resturant/hotel service industry). While the stories are funny and full of heart, you get the sense as the book goes on that Bemelmans realizes that he wants to move on from this world before he ends up up alone and semi-tragic like some of his co-workers. The narrative style definitely matches the time of history the book depicts. I think readers who like reading about the humor of daily-life will enjoy this book a lot.
January 10, 2010
Thoroughly enjoyable.
Very well-written account of Bemelmans's youth in Bavaria, his loving brewmeister grandfather, his serial expulsions from school, and his eventual niche in the world of Hotels.
Especially enjoyable are insider accounts of the "Hotel Splendide," a 5-star New York hotel in the 20s and 30s, of elaborate debutante balls, loose-lipped wall street kingpins, kitchen tomfoolery and hijinks, and the romantic lives of a string of magicians, dancers, and a wannabe boxer. Not to mention the glorious descriptions of staff meals pilfered from the very rich (If you love food, you will come to see that these hotel orderlies ate better than anyone else in America in those days)!
Really fun, and highly recommended.
Very well-written account of Bemelmans's youth in Bavaria, his loving brewmeister grandfather, his serial expulsions from school, and his eventual niche in the world of Hotels.
Especially enjoyable are insider accounts of the "Hotel Splendide," a 5-star New York hotel in the 20s and 30s, of elaborate debutante balls, loose-lipped wall street kingpins, kitchen tomfoolery and hijinks, and the romantic lives of a string of magicians, dancers, and a wannabe boxer. Not to mention the glorious descriptions of staff meals pilfered from the very rich (If you love food, you will come to see that these hotel orderlies ate better than anyone else in America in those days)!
Really fun, and highly recommended.
November 12, 2014
Charming essays about Hotel Splendide, a grand hotel in NYC, in the 20s and 30s. Ludwig Bemelmans wrote the Madeline books and spent years barely succeeding in hotel work before becoming such a famed artist. His illustrations throughout the book are worth picking this up. They say Hotel Splendide is really the Ritz, and stories, based on facts, about some of the events there--dinner for 1500, 3 orchestras, a moat contrived by the city's fire department in the ballroom, and parties that started at 7 p.m. and ended at dawn--capture what the 1% did back then. There are many great stories about the back-room staff, as well.
Alas, I am told this is out of print. Used book stores and the library hold this delight.
Alas, I am told this is out of print. Used book stores and the library hold this delight.
June 3, 2011
These whimsical, witty, and sophisticated essays, embellished with Bemelmans’ drawings, give Madeline fans a glimpse of the man behind the enduring picture book classics. Bemelmans writes about his tenure with the Ritz Carlton hotel in New York City which began when he was a 16-year-old European immigrant and continued intermittently for many years. We meet an assortment of colorful characters: haughty maitre d’hotels, eccentric patrons, larcenous waiters, even a magician and his trick dog. My favorite sketch was the one with the five lady midgets, gondola, lagoon, and inadvertent olive pit.
July 9, 2014
Bemelmans was a hell of a story teller. Highly recommend. From Good Reads: If there is such a thing as a comfort food book, Bemelmans' stories are it. His evocative tales of grand hotel life have a reporter's eye for sensory detail, yet he always manages to bathe his world and it's lovable characters in the mood of a fairytale. Meet the girl-hungry hotel Magician, Kalakobe the African cook, Mr Sigsag, Monsieur Victor, Mespoulet and an unforgettable cast of down but not yet out hotel employees. A feast of food writing. And once you've read one Bemelmans' tale you fall in love and want to read the lot.
July 14, 2009
This book made me snort on more than one occasion. Ludwig Bemelmans, who is most famous for writing the Madeline books for children. This is the story of his life as a young man. He was born in southern Germany, and was a lazy bum. His mother sent him packing to America where he finally found hi niche as an employee at the Hotel Splendide. (Which is really code for the Ritz.) Here we meet all sorts of crazy characters, and the book is mostly anecdotes about the wild goings on at the Splendide. A good read for anyone who needs a laugh.
March 15, 2014
Wonderful pieces about Bemelmans' working life in the world of luxury hotels (mostly a thinly disguised New YOrk Ritz Carlton) - the long hard days and nights, the impossible customers and supervisors, and the subversive ways in which the servers get their own back. Though this describes a period before the Great War, there is much that is universal and timeless about the experiences described. The wretched excesses of the Gilded Age are not so very different from those of today. With wonderful whimsical sketches to remind us what Bemelmans became years later.
June 28, 2007
Probably the only Bemelmans you need. I've not been thoroughly entertained by his besotted travel books like, e.g., How to Travel Incognito. Who cares? I suppose it's the thrill of the behind-the-scene of the hotel business 80 years ago. In that regard, it's like Kitchen Confidential but, you know, well-written.
January 8, 2010
A pleasant narrative voice guides us through the rarefied world of New York luxury hotels created and inhabited by European immigrants (ie. French, German, Austrian, Irish.) The incidents that take place in the Splendide hotel are more often bitter than sweet, but they provide a fascinating glimpse into a young America (“The young people, men and women, were better looking, better built, more fortunate of face, than any other race in the world”) through the eyes of the impoverished Old World.
May 8, 2010
Michael bought this at the Strand, because I liked Bemelmans bar so much here in the city. However, this is essentially an autobiography about Bemelmans life, and a very boring, uninteresting one at that. He seems extremely self-centered, and although he tries to relate stories about other artists and people he knew in life, it's all about how they affected him personally, on what seems to be a very superficial level. Even the stories about growing up in Austria I didn't find interesting.
July 23, 2013
Picked this book up randomly at the book store, and extremely glad I did! I love how he grabbed my attention with just the first sentence, " I was born in a hotel in Meran, a small city in Tirol, and I spent the first years of my life in a beer garden." It was really neat to read about his travels around Europe, his grandfather the beer maker, and just life and culture back then. This is the first book I've read from him so far, but if they're all as hilarious as this one, sign me up!
July 17, 2016
This was endlessly pleasant. Written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, of Madeline fame, the vignettes in this book deliciously painted a portrait of hotel workers at a New York hotel in the thirties. It really reminded me of The Grand Budapest Hotel in the relationship between staff and guests. Staff were like ants, guests were these self-important aristocrats. Very sweet, kind of plot-less, and overall I'd absolutely recommend it.
August 15, 2016
I have been hanging out with Ludwig Bemelmans since my Mom first read Madeline to my sister and me when we were little. He encouraged me to go live in France. He made me feel like an elegant adult when I went for cocktails at the Bemelmans Bar in NYC. Now he has me completely under his spell with this wonderfully wise and charming look at life as an employee at a posh hotel in 1920's and 1930's New York. I think Mr. Bemelmans may be my spirit animal.
December 8, 2007
The premise for this book focused on the author's experiences of working at a large hotel in New York in the 1920s and '30s. Unfortunately, the book was a big disappointment, full of dull stories with no point. I almost put the book down several times but managed to plow through it. Maybe I expected too much.
January 21, 2012
2.5 maybe. There were charming sections, cute stories, and a definite sense of what it meant to be serving the wealthy in early 20th century New York. It was also slow, with none of the kitchen/culinary conflict (or blatant love of food) that I expected from a book so lauded by Bourdain.
I do love Madeleine (who couldn't?), but this fell flat for me.
I do love Madeleine (who couldn't?), but this fell flat for me.
May 22, 2012
I enjoyed this voyeuristic opportunity into seeing what a grand hotel was like to operate in the 1920's. Bemelmans provided insight on characters on both sides of the industry (guests and employees. Especial interested to me was that everyone working at the hotel was of european immigrant status of sorts trying to make a place for themselves in America.
February 16, 2015
Bemelmans is the first author that I knew the name of, I was obsessed with Madeline. Now, I read culinary memoirs and this was one of the suggested titles. More than culinary this is the story of the grand Hotel Splendide in NYC of the 20's and 30's. A fun Jeeves style telling of the goings on with a very high class clientele and staff with their own curious style.
October 1, 2014
I really enjoyed this view into the lives of hotel staff in the early 20th century. I liked the humour and the characters. I think what held most charm for me was the narrator's reminiscences of what, at the time, had felt like quite serious events with the calm but amused mind of later life. A gentle, funny way to spend a few days reading.
January 27, 2015
Quite a fun read - a thinly fictionalized account of life at the Grand Hotels of the late 19th and early 20th century, with all their pomp and splendor, told from the viewpoint of a low man on the totem-pole, a waiter's assistant. Episodic, so you can dip into this like short stories, which was how I read it. Great if you like the Gilded Age.
January 1, 2008
Behind the scenes of a major hotel, in the days when Manhattan was Manhattan, and not a big shopping mall. Ludwig Bemelmans goes to the kitchens and closets of a major hotel somewhere in MId-Manhattan and wrote about the underbelly of hotel service and life. Via the late 30's. Superb.
October 26, 2008
From the creator of the Madeline book children's series, the creator's autobiography is remarkable and eye opening. How his writing of a Madeline's world contrasts to his propensity for working outside the law whenever able while in NYC is extremely fascinating and well-written.
June 19, 2008
Bemelman was the creator of the Madeleine books for children. Before that, he worked his way up in hotels in New York. With a keen eye for the eccentric customers and crazy coworkers, this book was a neat look at the other side of Bemelmans life.
September 15, 2008
"He was probably the worst waiter in the world and I had become his commis after I fell down the stairs into the main part of the dining room with eight pheasants a la Souvaroff."
Very entertaining.
Very entertaining.
May 11, 2018
Gave me a solid understanding of high-class hotel scene during the roaring 20s and the society that frequented it. The episodes in the book are always entertaining and range form touching to downright ludicrous.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews