{"product_id":"hotel-splendide","title":"Hotel Splendide","description":"\u003cb\u003e“Truly a great book\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e—\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eunique, invaluable and unapproachable as the gold standard of the genre\u003c\/b\u003e… \u003cb\u003eBemelmans got there first, more frequently, and better.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003cb\u003e—Anthony Bourdain\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eAcerbic, colorful, and spirited stories from a bygone era: behind the scenes in a grand NY hotel, from the author of the \u003ci\u003eMadeline \u003c\/i\u003ebooks\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePicture David Sedaris writing \u003ci\u003eKitchen Confidential\u003c\/i\u003e about the Ritz in New York in the 1920s, which had the style and charm of \u003ci\u003eThe Grand Budapest Hotel\u003c\/i\u003e…\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this charming and uproariously funny hotel memoir, Ludwig Bemelmans uncovers the fabulous world of the Hotel Splendide—the thinly disguised stand-in for the Ritz—a luxury New York hotel where he worked as a waiter in the 1920s. With equal parts affection and barbed wit, he uncovers the everyday chaos that reigns behind the smooth facades of the gilded dining room and banquet halls.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In hilarious detail, Bemelmans sketches the hierarchy of hotel life and its strange and fascinating inhabitants: from the ruthlessly authoritarian maître d''hôtel Monsieur Victor to the kindly waiter Mespoulets to Frizl the homesick busboy. Illustrated with his own charming line drawings, Bemelmans'' tales of a bygone era of extravagance are as charming as they are riotously entertaining.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e“[\u003c\/b\u003eBemelmans] \u003cb\u003ewas \u003c\/b\u003ethe original bad boy of the NY hotel\/restaurant subculture, a waiter, busboy, and restaurateur who “told all” in a series of funny and true (or very near true) autobiographical accounts of backstairs folly, excess, borderline criminality, and madness in the grande Hotel Splendide… If you like stories about old New York as I do, this classic will have you laughing out loud.”  –Anthony Bourdain\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57312715571582,"sku":"NW9781782277910","price":9.4,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781782277910.jpg?v=1778552058","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/hotel-splendide","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}