Love Hotels: The Hidden Fantasy Rooms of Japan Review

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(More customer reviews)I am of two minds on this book. On one hand, it is full of great fantasy-land photos representing a slice of Japan that I love; the bizarre, the outrageous, the unashamed blending of cute/sexy/violent and anything else that can be thrown into the mix. On the other hand, this book completely misrepresents what love hotels are, the purpose they serve in Japanese society, and pretty much every other aspect of this unique aspect of Japanese life. Anyone reading this book, then going to a love hotel in Japan, would be sorely disappointed.
I lived in Japan for many years, and during that time I went to many, many love hotels. The vast majority are nothing like these photographs, and the themed rooms are actually quite rare. If you notice, most of these photographs are from the same couple of establishments, Hotel Adonis, Hotel Loire and Hotel Snowman (not the actual name of the hotel, which is really Gang Snowman), because they are the few out of the thousands of hotels that offer these kinds of rooms. Most love hotels are...somewhat boring in décor. They are nice rooms, with lots of services such as free movies, karaoke and a big bathtub, which are usually cheaper to stay in than regular hotels. Yes, there are some outrageous love hotels, like the ones in this book, and those are the kind worth seeking out because they are so much fun, but they are hardly the norm.
The introduction to this book, by Natsuo Kirino, author of the book Out, is depressing and also misrepresentative of love hotels in Japan. She would have you believe that they are some sort of seedy place where men live out their dark fantasies while cheating on their wives and abusing women in general. In my experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Oh yes, there are those who use them as "cheating hotels", but all of my Japanese friends and co-workers, teachers and chefs, young and old, used love hotels without embarrassment. Why? Well, for one thing because Japanese houses are small, with thin walls and families often sleeping in the same room together. Privacy is a valuable commodity. For another reason, they are just fun. It is nice to get out of the house, out of the routine, and go with your partner and indulge in a love hotel for the night. People would chat at work at which hotels they liked, in the same way people swapped good restaurants. My wife and I stayed at a great love hotel for our anniversary, complete with private roof-top pool, huge bed and massive bath. It was fantastic.
On another note, in the introduction Kirino calls Japan "a land without religion" and blames that for the moral failing of the country. Japan is indeed a "land without Christianity", but that is not the same thing as being "without religion". I was quite shocked at how poorly she represented her native country, and with such spite and venom she discussed the Japanese people. I dearly hope no one takes her opinion as indicative of the country and its populace.
So, in other words, great photos and a nice look at the more bizarre and fringe love hotels, but no one should take this as representative of the industry or the country as a whole. Without Kirino's introduction, this would have been a much better book, buts its inclusion drags it down to a sad and misinformed level.

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Sex creates odd cultural conventions everywhere, but nowhere has an institution quite like the Japanese love hotel. To be rented by the hour for amorous liaisons, the theme rooms revealed in this provocative collection of photographs are steeped in fantasy, their elaborate décor ranging from simulated subway cars to religious bondage with much kink in between. These brash rooms are fascinating in themselves, but also present a window into a very classified aspect of this society. The foreword by best-selling author Natsuo Kirino and passages from hotel guest books lend humor and context to these 80 haunting room portraits, creating an astonishing document of sex and romance, public and private space in Japan.

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The Hotel Under the Sand Review

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(More customer reviews)The Hotel Under the Sand is simply the most charming children's book (ages 8-11) that I have read in recent memory. Emma, a brave little girl, is lost at sea and washes up on a desert island. There she discovers a magical hotel where time is stretched out so that you can vacation as long as you wish (I seriously need that). She also discovers some stalwart friends (like a ghost, a chef, and a pirate) and uncovers the mysteries of the hotel in a wonderfully creative treasure hunt. There are also excellent illustrations that skillfully capture the flavor of the story.
I could say more, but I wouldn't want to spoil the book for you. The Hotel Under the Sand is suitable for children, but also for older readers who just want an old-fashioned adventure (not like, say, Twilight) told from the perspective of a spunky little heroine who is based on a real little girl named Emma. It's truly a breath of fresh air.

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Hotel Lachapelle Review

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(More customer reviews)Oooh this is an AMAZING WONDERFUL UNBELIEVABLE book of art. This is truly a photographic masterpiece with digital manipulations and careful eye for detail.
I was fascinated with this book from the very first time I picked it up. Each page is not simply a photo. It is a photo mixed with complementary photoshop tricks and sexy poses, eye-shocking closeups and bizarre props.
A few of my favorites:
There is one photo of a nude african-american man bent over with a vase of red roses stuck in his butt. Just writing it almost sounds laughable, but when you SEE it on the page - it really just gives you respect for the art.
There is a photo of pamela anderson lee nude covering her body with her hands as she stands with one foot out of a giant egg shell, as though she is a little bird hatching or something.
There is a photo of jerry springer with a beat up face (so detailed you can see the stitches and banged up scabs) and he is smiling and holding his thumb up.
There is a photo of Madonna (was once the cover of rolling stone) where she is laying inside of pink water with her hand in the air seducing the camera - with an airbrushed purple dragon behind her followed by rays of light, like one of her albums.
There is a photo of Lil Kim in the nude (except for a flesh-toned hat) and ALL over her body she is covered in Louis Vuitton brand symbols. As though she is a piece of leather, branded.
-- The WHOLE book is a compilation of some of the most extraordinary photos and backdrops you can imagine.
And to top it off, it's full of celebrities. Just packed with celebrities. Including Anna Kournikova, Marilyn Manson, Shirley Manson from Garbage, Cher, Elton John, Tori Amos, Mark Whalberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a ton more. I can't even name them all.
You gotta have this. I can't imagine anyone not wanting this. It does cost quite a bit, but when you think of all the conversations you can make with just ONE picture in this book, it makes the price seem like nothing.
LOL I took this book to Starbucks and I left with two new friends. Gotta love it.

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" Hotel LaChapelletakes the reader another step deeper into the shocking world of David LaChapelle.Each full-color page is metaphorically, a room in a crazy hotel.Hotel LaChapelleis full of neon, sex, and strange people;and the result is a beachy postcard from that nuns-with-guns place in the sun that could only exist in the vision of David LaChapelle. Hotel LaChapellewill be luxuriously printed and handsomely, colorfully boxed. Boasting more than 158 full-color images, it is a passport to this groundbreaking photographer's unique imagination.His subjects include the hottest celebrities to today: Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Tori Amos, Uma Thurman, Marilyn Manson, Daniel Day Lewis, Mike Myers, Pamela Anderson, and many others. Spectacular in style as in content,Hotel LaChapellepromises to be the wildest, freshest volume of photography of the next few years. "

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Hotel Investments: Issues & Perspectives Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is an excelent oportunity for financial guys learn more aboute financial behavior in hotel and affiliates.

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Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels Review

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(More customer reviews)I just finished reading Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury Hotels, and I mean reading it: Acknowlegments, Introduction, Chapters 1-6, Conclusion, Appendices A, B & C, and Notes. Okay, I did not read References and Index, but close enough.
What a great ethnography! What a great voice! The writer, Rachel Sherman, manages to be impressively objective and fair as she observes and participates in the service economy of the luxury hotel. Since I am an arm chair-bleeding heart liberal, I wanted there to be a clear demarcation between "good guys" and "bad guys," but Sherman paints a far more complicated and nuanced picture of the social dynamics at work in the luxury service sector. As a result, the Conclusion provides a satisfying critique, since it is in this section that Sherman lets her views be known. I find this admirable because it indicates this researcher's ability to distinguish between observation, analysis, and critique.
Class Acts is a scholarly work, yet the writing style is extremely lucid. Yes, the author uses jargon -- intersubjectivity, habitus, interpellated -- but what is really cool is how Sherman uses language to mirror some of the class distinctions she is writing about, at times conveying theory and abstraction and at others conveying terms like "ripped off" and "pissed." The contrast is refreshing.
Sherman also does an excellent job of sign postng. In a straightforward way, she reminds the reader of who is who, foreshadows ideas to come, and acknowledges ideas previously introduced. I found all these textual reminders to be helpful. Not only that, but Sherman offers advice on how to tip in the Notes.
Finally, the author does a great job weaving the motif of movies and image making throughout the text -- from Pretty Woman to My Dinner with Andre -- to underscore both the transformative power of the luxury hotel setting and the nature of work and class distinctions.

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In this lively study, Rachel Sherman goes behind the scenes in two urban luxury hotels to give a nuanced picture of the workers who care for and cater to wealthy guests by providing seemingly unlimited personal attention. Drawing on in-depth interviews and extended ethnographic research in a range of hotel jobs, including concierge, bellperson, and housekeeper, Sherman gives an insightful analysis of what exactly luxury service consists of, how managers organize its production, and how workers and guests negotiate the inequality between them. She finds that workers employ a variety of practices to assert a powerful sense of self, including playing games, comparing themselves to other workers and guests, and forming meaningful and reciprocal relations with guests. Through their contact with hotel staff, guests learn how to behave in the luxury environment and come to see themselves as deserving of luxury consumption. These practices, Sherman argues, help make class inequality seem normal, something to be taken for granted. Throughout, Class Acts sheds new light on the complex relationship between class and service work, an increasingly relevant topic in light of the growing economic inequality in the United States that underlies luxury consumption.

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Hotel Review

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(More customer reviews)Wow! I was not expecting this book to be so rich in detail, context, theme and character development. On one level it's just a very descriptive outline of 5 days in the life of a luxury hotel in New Orleans in the early 1960s. Hotel also takes a critical stance in the civil rights issues of the era. Through carefully crafted characters, it comes out pro-desegregation but does it without wielding a heavy hand. Then at the individual characters and vignettes, the book is about karma and how little decissions can add up to either good things happening or extremely bad things happening.

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During five days in the midst of a hot, steamy Louisiana summer, the lives of a colorful cast of characters intertwine in a series of public, private, and personal dramas at the famed St. Gregory luxury hotel. Book available.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Hotel Bemelmans Review

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(More customer reviews)Potential purchasers of Bemelman's lovely "Hotel Bemelmans" should know that as far as I can tell all the Hotel Bemelmans books advertised on Amazon is a shortened edition of the original Hotel Bemelmans published in 1946 by Viking Press. The books advertised here were published in 2000 by Overlook Press and contain 24 stories. The Viking Press edition has 36 stories. I learned this the hard way having purchased 3 copies of the shortened Overlook Press book. Some wonderful stories have been left out. e.g. Art at the Splendide. I have the original and am looking to buy some more.

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If there is such a thing as a comfort food book, Bemelmans stories are it. His evocative tales of a 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 for 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. This book offers a feast of food writing. And once you've read one Bemelmans tale, you fall in love and want to read the lot.

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Heartbreak Hotel Review

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(More customer reviews)Oh yes, some would say that this story and its characters are "trite and cliched", but, folks, if you grew up in the south in the 50's and 60's you cannot help but recognize yourself - or gain a brilliant glimpse of a southern girl and all that was expected of her. The last thing your parents wanted was for you to, Heaven forbid, have any thoughts of your own - especially if they were in opposition to the standards of the time. Those were the days when you cared what your parents thought of you and you bore bitter consequences if you were a disappointment. It took a lot of courage to venture away from the norm. Ann Rivers Siddons paints vivid pictures of the small town and college settings and the workings of an evolving young mind in that era.
As an avid fan of Mrs. Siddons, I received a flash from Amazon that her new book, "Off Season" is coming out August 13th, so, in preparation for that and because it seems like an eternity since her last book came out, I immediately went down the list of her books to see if there was anything I had not read. Heartbreak Hotel was the only one - and I enjoyed it thoroughly. If this was Siddons' debut novel, she was off to a great start back in 1976 - and she's only gotten better with each novel. After reading Heartbreak Hotel, I will now chomp at the bit until "Off Season" emerges in August.

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Anne Rivers Siddons "cannot be surpassed in evoking a kind of life peculiar to the South," says Publishers Weekly. Her classic novel Heartbreak Hotel, praised as "anything but nostalgic" by The New York Times, excels with an insightful, troubling tale of the coming of age of a privileged young Southern woman during the turbulent Civil Rights era.In Montgomery, Alabama, Martin Luther King has organized a bus boycott. In Tuscaloosa, outrage surrounds the entrance of the state university's first black student. But at little Randolph University, sweltering in the summer heat, life remains dreamily the same. At Kappa House, the sorority sisters talk of who has pinned whom, and whether they can sneak past their housemother so they can party at an out-of-town bar. Even among this privileged group, pretty, popular Kappa sister Maggie Deloach is unquestionably one of the elite...until she commits a single act of defiance and courage that forever alters the way others think of her, and how Maggie thinks of herself.

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Hotel Success Handbook - Practical Sales and Marketing ideas, actions, and tips to get results for your small hotel, B&B, or guest accommodation. Review

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(More customer reviews)For someone new to marketing this was very helpful with our holiday home. The exercises are excellent and the examples easy to follow.

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If you are an owner or manager of a small hotel, B&B, Restaurant with Rooms, Inn or other guest accommodation this book is packed with ideas and tips for business success. Practical sales & marketing actions that you can use to improve occupancy, increase spend per head, and maximise profit. Find out how you can: - Attract the guests you want - Define your identity so you stand out from competition - Work with partners to be successful - Use the web to improve your business - Find traditional and online marketing strategies that work for you - Increase the lifetime value of each guest - Hire and lead a great supporting team - Keep your success going

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The Hotel Cat (New York Review Children's Collection) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is right up there with My Father's Dragon as wonderful first real novels to read aloud to young children. It is lyrical and full of emotion, without having anything in it that might be frightening to a young child. The issues that Tom, the Hotel Cat, faces, are some of the big ones for five year olds. He is young, in a world that is old, and he hopes to find some valuable place for himself in that old intimidating world; and he longs to make friends, in a social sphere where everybody else, as far as he can tell, are all members already of the same Club. His joy at knowing that behind the door or Room 811 are new friends, who have not forgotten him and look forward to talking with him as eagerly as he with them, has stayed with every one of my children as passionately as it stayed with me 35 years ago. Sadly, it is doing so with the very same worn edition, since The Hotel Cat is long out of print. I hope the New York Review will be inspired by what I trust will be the success of their reissue of The Cat Club to put this back into the market as well.

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One wintry day a lonely stray cat named Tom wanders into the Royal Hotel. He chases mice so well that he is given the job of Hotel Cat. Tired of always spending time in the cellar, Tom ventures upstairs and meets the gentle Mrs. Wilkins, a longtime hotel resident who has the ability to communicate with cats. She encourages Tom to become less bossy and to keep an open mind about the hotel guests. One night, during the winter of New York City's Big Freeze, Tom detects three cats in one of the rooms. It turns out that due to a boiler breakdown in his house, Captain Tinker has brought Jenny Linsky and her brothers, Edward and Checkers, to stay at the hotel until the boiler is fixed. Other homes experience boiler breakdowns, too, and soon other members of the Cat Club can be found staying in rooms at the Royal Hotel. Before long, plans are underway for the Cat Club Stardust Ball, with the help of Tom, who has proved himself helpful and considerate after all. Soon he becomes a "friend forever" of Jenny and her pals.

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The Beat Hotel: Ginsberg, Burroughs & Corso in Paris, 1957-1963 Review

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(More customer reviews)I lived at number nine rue Git-le-Coeur from 1955 until 1958 and visited there often until 1960 and knew most of the people mentioned in the book. I was an ex-Korean War Vet studying on the G.I. Bill as were thousands of "Americans in Paris" in the 50,s. I can attest that most of the events related are accurate. The Hotel was special because of the freedom the owner granted us: cooking in our rooms, decorating them, allowing overnight guests, etc.) I believe it was the Hotel that helped form the "Beats" rather then the other way around since it was a creative beehive before they got there. My main argument with the book is the insistance of the hotel as being sordid, rat-ridden and dirty. This was not true. I never saw a four-legged rat there and the only roaches were the cannibis kind. The rooms were swept and mopped daily. It was a great place to be even before the "Beats" arrived and should not be defamed by exaggeration at the expense of the wonderful blue haired MadameRachou who owned it and took care of us, her Americains.

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Hotel Honolulu: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Few capture the essence of a setting as sensitively as author Paul Theroux. One remembers with pleasure "Kowloon Tong" (1997), a vivid word portrait of China. Once more he renders unforgettable scenes in his latest work, "Hotel Honolulu," set in Hawaii where, by the way, Mr. Theroux maintains a second home.
But this is not the sun dappled island paradise of which many dream. It is instead a rather seedy spot, a down-at-the-heels 80 room hotel on an unimposing byway several blocks from the beach in Waikiki. "The rooms were small, the elevator was narrow, the lobby was tiny, the bar was just a nook."
The owner, Buddy Hamstra, a man with protean appetites, bridled at calling his place small. It was, he said, "Yerpeen."
Resident manager for this haven is an unsuccessful writer who has no hotel experience, but a sharp eye for observing and facile tongue for relating the human dramas that unfold behind closed doors.
Readers will find themselves drawn to the off-beat, flawed characters who visit the hotel, and reminded that Mr. Theroux is not only a trenchant observer of humankind but one blessed with limitless imagination and a powerful sense of place.

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Unmasked (Hotel Marchand) Review

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(More customer reviews)As Mardi Gras approaches Charlotte Marchand knows her beloved family run hotel is in financial trouble as recent publicized problems like the fire have led to cancellations. She believes the buck stops here as the manager so she needs a plan to save the Hotel Marchand, but none seem forthcoming. Charlotte also marvels that her three sisters and her mom are engaged to get married; she is happy for them but wonders why her prince, albeit a loving wealthy one, doesn't arrive to charm her and save her beloved hotel.
Two decades ago Dr, Jackson Bailey and Charlotte were an entry, but something broke them apart. Neither forgot their true love though both moved on. When they see one another, sparks ignite with this time Jackson vowing to not let history repeat itself. As they have a second chance at love, they must save the Hotel from the odious extortion tricks of Mike Blount and also foil her grandmamma Celeste Robichaux, who abetted by their foolishness and pride, stopped their relationship the first time around.
UNMASKED is an apt title not just because of the Mardi Gras, but also because readers see much more of the takeover plot to steal the Hotel from the Marchand family. The cast is solid as it has become a trademark of the miniseries, but the lead couple is perhaps the best pairing to date as they have a history to overcome as much as they have adversaries to defeat. Ingrid Weaver provides a strong entry starring two fortyish protagonists who learn love has no expiration date.
Harriet Klausner


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It's the craziest time of year in New Orleans, but Charlotte Marchand has never experienced a Mardi Gras quite like this. Someone on her staff is out to destroy her family's hotel, and as general manager, she can't let that happen. Even the unexpected return of her high school sweetheart, Jackson Bailey, can't completely distract her.

But it's only when the two of them are kidnapped and their lives are at risk that Charlotte reaches the stunning realization: Jackson is the only man she's ever loved.
--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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The Hotel on the Roof of the World: From Miss Tibet to Shangri La Review

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(More customer reviews)I picked this book up at a sale at my local book store. What a find! I've been to many of the places in the book and have to say that the author is spot on. I even had lunch at the hotel that he worked at during the time he was there.
Its a very funny read. If you've never been to Tibet, the book will still entertain you, and make you want to go! If you HAVE been to Tibet, then you'll enjoy it even more.

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On a par with the best of Bill Bryson and Pico Iyer, Alec Le Sueur's bestselling insider account of life at the world famous Holiday Inn, Lhasa, Tibet (altitude 14,000 feet) pits Communist owners against capitalist manager to create a chain hotel in Shangri-La.Against all odds, heroic Tibetan workers fight with Chinese bosses who turn off the heat in reezing weather when occupancy falls below 20 percent.They struggle against Maoist bureaucrats trying to break up the first Miss Tibet beauty pageant.And they delicately remove the American Express card from the wallet of an apparently deceased guest to cover room charges.Nonstop hijinks make this one of the funniest travel books on the planet.

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Mistletoe and Mayhem (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

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(More customer reviews)It is the holiday season at the Pennyfoot Hotel in Badgern's End, England and this year the manager hopes to finally break the Christmas curse. Every year during the holiday season, proprietor Cecily Sinclair Baxter is involved in a murder case usually at the hotel. Cecily's husband Baxter prays for a quieter time because he worries about his wife investigating a homicide and has something on his mind that he needs to tell his spouse.
Alas, their hopes are dashed when the body of Charlie the footman is found in what looked initially as if an accident occurred when a gargoyle fell from the roof bashing in his head. However, they quickly realize a murder was committed. When Ellie the maid goes missing, another maid Pansy and stable hand Samuel find her body. Soon afterward, more homicides occur. Cecily investigates with the intention of uncovering the deadly culprit but she is ignorant to the fact the killer is observing her movements very closely.
The latest annual Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst Series amateur sleuth (see Decked with Folly and Ringing in Murder) is a terrific holiday cozy that contains more than one mystery. Besides the murders, readers will want to know what is disturbing Baxter that he needs to inform Cecily of. The characters who many appeared in previous tales bring continuity to the Pennyfoot saga. Village life in Edwardian England provides a sense of time and place as Kate Kingsbury writes another entertaining yuletide whodunit.
Harriet Klausner


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This holiday season there'll be murder under the mistletoe at the Pennyfoot Hotel... As friends, family, and guests gather at the Pennyfoot Hotel to share the joys of the season, Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her staff are hustling and bustling more than ever. Cecily's friend Madeline arrives with her new baby and adds a kissing bough to the decorations. Cecily believes that the holiday couldn't get off to a better start... But after a footman and a new maid are seen kissing under the bough and then turn up dead afterwards, the downstairs staff is convinced a serial killer is among them...perhaps the mysterious guest known only as J. Mortimer. When Madeline's baby disappears, Cecily desperately tries to find the child. If she doesn't catch this killer in time, everyone's cheer will quickly turn to fear.

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The White Rhino Hotel: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)I came to this book after reading and immensely enjoying its sequel, A CAFE ON THE NILE. Since I like rip-roaring adventures in faraway places, and the sequel proved so enjoyable, I grabbed this one up as soon as I found it in a used bookstore. And it was enjoyable, creating a world for me which constantly drew me back each time I'd put the book down. Yet there was something lacking in this tale of new settlers and broken souls cast up on the shores of British East Africa (the future Kenya). Here were all the characters who play such a significant role in the subsequent book and we get to see how they found their way to become what we later encounter there. The English gypsy boy, Anton Rider, lost and adrift in England will find his moorings in the African bush -- a hunter and adventurer with a touch of the farmer in him. The dwarf from Goa, Olivio Fonseca Alavedo, a man who will gradually change from the cold-hearted schemer who cares for nothing but himself to the cold-hearted schemer who also, by the way, happens to care for a few friends. Gwenn Llywellen, wife of a broken World War I soldier, will endure the wilds of the new country and the sadness of loss while becoming a stronger person. Lord Penfold, hotel proprietor and down and out English gentleman, will sink further into ineffectualness but never, quite, inactivity. And the German ex-soldier, Ernst von Decken, will demonstrate why he can be relied upon despite his cold and ruthless ways. All of these are here in a tale of wandering and land-grabbing and lust in colonial Africa. And yes, there's lots of lust. In fact the sex is rather prominent in this tale, and frequently quite strange. Besides the usual sort, we are treated to Olivio's kinkiness and a brutal rape. And Mr. Bull has a thing for recurring motifs: The twin Somali courtesans here, the "Black Tulips", vs. the sexually assertive and promiscuous American twins in the sequel. Olivio bound and trapped in both books facing imminent destruction through immolation. The loss of a beloved African sidekick in both. I could go on. But suffice it to say that the sexuality has an oddly abstract quality to it (it does not kindle and smolder in the reader's mind as, I think, it should) while Mr. Bull seems to be fixated on a number of recurring motifs and situations. Yet, this said, I must add that while the book did not surprise as I'd hoped, the tale did not keep me guessing, it once again kept me coming back and wanting more of the wild world which Bull portrayed. For a big book, I thought the end rather rushed and almost anti-climactic. And somewhat predictable. But it was an experience to be reading it. (I put several others aside just to see it through.) Perhaps if I'd read this one before its sequel I wouldn't have been so disappointed. But, on balance, I liked the second one better.The King of Vinland's Saga

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How to Open a Financially Successful Bed & Breakfast or Small Hotel: With Companion CD-ROM Review

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(More customer reviews)If you're planning to open a bed and breakfast as a hobby or with the notion that "you're not really running a business, you're just making profits in your free time," this is not the book for you. This book covers almost all potential areas that you'll need to know to run a professional B&B, and the level of detail will quickly dissuade anyone who isn't serious. That having been said, anyone who does want to run a professional bed and breakfast will find the information invaluable. The forms included on the enclosed CD pay for the book themselves--everything from employment applications to inventory forms, invoices, standard recipe cards, and kitchen safety inspection forms. The book covers all stages of the planning and setup process, including business plans, marketing and promotion, safety, and employees. Particularly useful is the section on marketing, something that most B&Bs that I've known tend to ignore. With a little creativity (and there are lots of suggestions contained in this chapter), your B&B can become part of the very identity of the neighborhood or city you live in, as in, "If you want to capture the flavor of X, go to this B&B!" The only change I would make to the book would be to make the section on writing business plans a more user friendly for those B&B owners who have never opened a business before. Nevertheless, the book contains lots of hardheaded business sense, presented plainly and clearly, with many good examples of existing B&Bs to illustrate the point. While you may not need all the information included when you first open your business, this book will provide you with lots of options for a time when you're able to expand. I recommend this book to anyone seriously considering going into the B&B business as a business, rather than just a way of pouring money down the drain!

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This comprehensive handbook with companion CD-ROM will clearly demonstrate how to set up, operate and manage a financially successful bed & breakfast or small hotel. Whatever your reason for wanting to open a bed and breakfast, keep in mind that at it takes more than dreams and rooms to achieve success, it is a business that must show a profit. This book will separate the romantic notions of owning a B&B from the business end. While providing detailed instruction and examples, the author leads you through finding a location that will bring success, learn how to draw up a winning business plan (The Companion CD-ROM has the actual business plan you can use in MS Word TM), how to buy and sell a bed & breakfast, basic cost control systems, profitable menu planning, Reservation Systems, successful kitchen management, equipment layout and planning, food safety & HACCP, housekeeping, successful beverage management, reservation networks, legal concerns, sales and marketing techniques, room rate formulas, arrival, billing, departure, learn how to set up computer systems to save time and money, learn how to hire & keep a qualified professional staff, brand new IRS tip reporting requirements, managing and training employees, generate high profile public relations and publicity, learn low cost internal marketing ideas, low and no cost ways to satisfy customers and build sales, learn how to keep bringing customers back, accounting & bookkeeping procedures, auditing, successful budgeting and profit planning development, as well as thousands of great tips and useful guidelines. There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits. In addition operators will appreciate this valuable resource and reference in their daily activities and as a source of ready-to-use forms, web sites, operating and cost cutting ideas, and mathematical formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. The Companion CD-ROM contains all the forms in the book as well as a sample business plan you can adapt for your own use.

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