Hotels and Country Inns of Character and Charm in France (Rivages Hotels of Character & Charm) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you want to see the best of France, just arm yourself with your Michelin atlas, Michelin Red Guide, a Blue or Green Guide, this book, a rental car, and your appetite for great food and wine.
Any inn that appears in both the Red Guide and this guide will be a memorable experience. All inns in the Red Guide have professional service and great food. Inns listed in both guides will also be unique and charming. Coupled with the data provided by the Red Guide, the pictures in this guide are very useful.
Best of all are the places in the countryside. Easy parking, phenomenal food, great wine, and usually a great setting. This is not a budget guide, but there are some great deals to be found. The cheapest place I stayed was an isolated Auberge in the Vosges mountains that charged only $50 per person for half board. This included a very small room, great 3 course dinner, buffet breakfast, and all tax and service.

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Ringing In Murder (A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Myst) Review

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(More customer reviews)Just in time for the holiday season, Kate Kingsbury has released her latest in the Pennyfoot Hotel series, Ringing in Murder. It's the winter holiday season in the early 1900's and everyone at the Pennyfoot Hotel, on England's south coast, is full of cheer. The staff rush about to decorate and prepare the various feasts for the holidays. The owner and manager, Cecily Sinclair Baxter, also has the added pleasure, of preparing for her friend Madeline's wedding, "knowing quite well that her friend would much rather have been married privately in the woods with only the birds and woodland creatures in attendance."
Against all hopes to the contrary, the annual Christmas curse on the Pennyfoot Hotel has returned. First, two of the exclusively designed Christmas crackers disappear; then a pair of guests is killed in a seemingly accidental fire at the hotel. To add some fun to the story, a mysteriously mobile snowman seems to be playing tricks on some of the staff.
Cecily has to investigate all the unusual events if she is to prevent more disasters that would mar the holiday festivities and the all important wedding. Not trusting the local constabulary with the investigation, the unlikely sleuth soon uncovers clues that point to a possible murderer. Will she discover the truth in time to prevent more deaths and help her friend get through the pre-wedding jitters and celebrate her nuptials? And what in the world is the meaning of the silly snowman that seems to move around outdoors and spook the staff? The characters are fun with their spot on old English vocabulary and various superstitions and neuroses. You will enjoy this fun frolic in the snow in Merry Olde England.
by Rhonda Esakov
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

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This season, Cecily has a surprise for her guests: gorgeous Christmas crackers handmade for the Pennyfoot. But when a mysterious fire breaks out in an upstairs room, it kills the Christmas mood-and two guests. Now Cecily's dead-set on solving this mystery before another deadly present turns up.

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How to Run a Great Hotel: Everything You Need to Achieve Excellence in the Hotel Industry Review

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(More customer reviews)"The rear cover of the book states the book is "based on the premise that being good is just not good enough in today's environment." With that as an introduction, the stage is set for a resource that will help today's hotelier find ongoing answers.
The book is segmented into sections, with the first three being: Strategic Planning, Leadership and Staff Engagement. These are focused at the supervisor to mid-career professional and can be useful. The next two sections on Customer Service and Make it Happen are a bit hard to decipher. The intent is to add a more structured approach in daily management practices, but these sections do not flow as smoothly as the earlier sections and need to be read several times to comprehend the author's intent.
I find a certain amount of practical counsel in this text, especially in the TOOLS AND RESOURCE section of the book that provides a range of forms, templates and direction for the new to mid-career professional..
Feedback is always welcome
Dr. John Hogan CHA CHE

HoganHospitality com
HospitalityEducators com

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This book is based on the premise that being good is just not good enough in today's competitive environment. For hotel owners and managers who want to achieve lasting business success through a root and branch review of key processes, How To Run a Great Hotel is a 'must read'.It will serve as a personal business consultant for the hotel professional, probing and testing their thinking across four critical themes which are proven to drive excellence. The content focuses less on day-to-day operations and more on big picture concerns such as strategy development, enhancing leadership skills, engaging employees and attaining customer focus, all of which are central to building a great hotel. Without clear direction in these important areas to guide activities, ongoing daily effort can be counterproductive.It's easy for hoteliers to lose sight of their goals when, engulfed by operational demands, they are often forced to just do rather than to think about what they are doing. This book provides the reader with an opportunity to step back and take a fresh look at their hotel, no matter where it currently lies in its life cycle.The purpose of the book is to get them to question what it is they are doing, why they are doing it and to offer guidance on how they can make it even better.The book is easy to read, practical, and action oriented. It will help the reader to define clear plans with measurable goals for improved personal and business performance.

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Summer by the Seaside: The Architecture of New England Coastal Resort Hotels, 1820-1950 Review

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(More customer reviews)As an architect who grew up in a small coastal New England town that had a grand wooden hotel from the late 19th century, I appreciate Tolles' survey of what were once some very special places. Many of these buildings were significant as works of architecture, and were done by some of the best architects practicing at the time. Many were spectacular renditions of the Shingle Style, and others were done in earlier styles. They created the atmosphere of the seashore resort, and brought people to appreciate the natural beauty of the areas where they were built. It in unfortunate that so many succumbed to fire, but balloon framing (with its open vertical chases between studs) and the lack of sprinkler systems increased the risk of fire tremendously. This book, like Tolles' other books, is well-presented, with good period photographs and drawings.

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Summer by the Seaside is a lavishly illustrated work on the origins, evolution, and gradual decline of the resort hotel phenomenon and its architecture along the New England coastline and on its offshore islands.In this indispensable, breakthrough volume, Bryant F.Tolles, Jr., the recognized expert in this popular field, examines the landmark hotels, extant and not, in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.Together these hospitality enterprises helped define the upscale tourist industry and key aspects of New England social,cultural, economic, and architectural history between 1820 and 1950.Exhaustively researched and beautifully assembled, this stunning and informative volume is the definitive work on the history of travel and tourism in coastal New England during this period.

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Hotel Room Trilogy Review

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(More customer reviews)Gifford's "Hotel Room Trilogy" contains the two incredible plays filmed by David Lynch for HBO and a third, lesser play. The tangible mystery of these stories is grounded in peculiar relationships that unfold slowly before us, producing an unrelenting atmosphere of the uncanny. In "Tricks" Gifford approaches the psychological territory of Kafka. We meet two men looking for something more than just sex from a prostitute. Are the men two halves of a severed personality? "Mrs. Kashfi" is the story of Charlie, a young boy who must amuse himself in the apartment of a fortuneteller while his mother consults the woman. This is the play that was not filmed, and though it is perhaps the least engaging work in the trilogy, the story does contain one unforgettable twist. "Blackout" remains my favorite of the plays, and is a story I will cherish forever. Danny and Diane, have come to New York in 1936 to meet a doctor, a specialist. Diane has a mysterious problem that has shaken her sanity and dragged the couple through a crucible of grief, burning away everything but an intense, clear-eyed, and sincere love for each other. In the end, "Blackout" is story rooted in a very basic relationship, and Gifford packs every line with texture and meaning-a style deeply reminiscent of Faulkner.

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A Hotel In Paris Review

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(More customer reviews)Minola Grey's artistic talents takes the reader on a picturesque journey through the cobbled streets of Paris to the sights and smells of the many delectable French cafes. After a body is discovered on the floor of the hotel where Minola is staying, things begin to heat up. When she is interviewed by the rude Interpol Inspector Peter Riley, he questions her on the need for two hotel rooms wondering if she is a prostitute. Despite his suspicions, he can't seem to get over his own desires for Minola.
When Minola Grey becomes involved in the case herself, she has to battle her own desires and jealousy for Peter Riley. Minola's keen sense of artistic abilities puts her in danger. Will Interpol Inspector Peter Riley discovers her true talents before she becomes the next victim? Purchase this wonderful, artistic, murder mystery by the very talented Margot Justes to find out.

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At a professional and emotional crossroad in her life, Minola Grey, an American painter decides that a trip to Paris is just what she needs to re-capture her muse. Soon after her arrival, a murder in the hotel disrupts her peaceful contemplation. Quick on the case is Interpol Inspector Peter Riley, who suspects Minola of holding the oldest profession known to man. Despite his rudeness and hostility, the gratuitous loss of life impacts her deeply and forces her to take action.With an eye for details, Minola's ability to observe the casual occurrences of every day life instilled in her as an artist, and her equally impressive talent to putting it on paper could help bring the case to closure. But when the murderer realizes she knows too much, can Peter Riley keep her safe?

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Hamster Hotel (Animal Ark Pets #4) Review

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(More customer reviews)Mandy's grandparents are watching a friends hamster. They don't know how to take care of the little animal. Mandy knows all about hamsters and agrees to stay with her grandparents to help out. But Mandy isn't sure what to do when the hamster disappears! Will Mandy find him in time?

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When Frisky's cage is accidentally picked up with other articles for a rummage sale, the hamster gets locked up in the cold, dark town hall. It's up to animal experts Mandy and James to rescue him.

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