Hotel Splendide, Vol. 5 Hardcover – January 1, 1993

“Hotel Splendide” by Ludwig Bemelmans. Viking Press, New York 1963This is a splendid little book about a fictional hotel in downtown Manhattan. The story may be fictional, but it seems to me that the story has an autobiographical flavor to it. The author was once a waiter in many famous hotel dining rooms.Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1965) is best known for his books on that little French girl, “Madeline”, which were made into a movie and a television series. His first published book, however, appears to be “Hansi”, originally published in 1934. The first copyright on “Hotel Splendide” is 1939.The author, also an artist, has interspersed pen and ink drawings throughout the book’s chapters. Perhaps the funniest drawing is of Madame Dreyspool, on page 19; the author presents a written description of the woman and her entourage which closely matches the drawing. Bemelmans fills the book with anecdotes of being a waiter in the 1930s era of New York City. The hotel dining room was filled with staff from many different nations. Bemelmans starts the book with a young man, learning the tricks of the trade and required to learn French at the same time. (Was this young man Bemelmans?) Then, chapter after chapter is replete with stories of all the different characters who are the customers. Each person has individual and special requirements for dining. Even as the author analyzes their dining requirements, he records their individual idiosyncrasies, both national and personal.Each chapter is different. Some are funny, while others are poignant. The Russian ballet dancers were really all proper English young ladies. Then, there is the young lady who drove off in her lover’s Hispano convertible. She ran into a loading platform on the truck in front of her and was decapitated. The main character returns to Germany for a vacation. Inflation had destroyed the German mark, so one dollar was worth literally millions of marks. Instead of being proud of their success as a waiter or as a maître d’, they were saddened by the poverty in Germany.I think that this book is an autobiographical story by Bemelmans. This is a wonderful book that has been overshadowed by the author’s “Madeline” stories.

Excellent condition, but somewhat slow to receive.

A wonderful book from the creator of the Madeline books, a series I grew up with. 'Hotel Splendide' is a collection of stories and drawings detailing Bemelmans' time at the Hotel Splendide where he worked as a waiter after arriving in New York from Austria. The book is filled with the most amazing characters and events, and while some of the stories can only be, at best, large exaggerations, this only adds to its charm. A delightful book describing the vibrant life in the grand hotels of the 1920s and 30s.