HOTEL - Untold Stories II by Rene D. Egle

Food and Beverage Private and Confidential
Llumina Press
Coral Springs, FL
Genre: Memoir
Rating: Good
ISBN: 9781605941912, $17.95, pp. 324

Quoting from the back cover:

"Hotel - Untold Stories II, Food & Beverage, Private & Confidential tells the story of Andre Schwarz, a young hotel professional who leaves his native Europe to work in Beijing, China, where has been offered the position of assistant Food & Beverage Manager at the Sheldon Grand Hotel in Beijing.

"The book picks up where Hotel - Untold Stories left off, but instead of relying entirely on Andre’s memory for details of incidents, accidents, and anecdotes, in Hotel - Untold Stories II..., all untold stories are facts based on Andre’s archived documents. As the name already indicates, some of these documents were, at one point in time, very private and confidential.

"Some of Andre’s stories are funny and others are shocking, but all have one thing in common: they are true; they happened. Some are still happening now and will still be happening when we are long gone. Private & Confidential give you a rare insider’s view into the exciting world of the finest five-star hotels."

Rene Egle’s memoir is very interesting, especially his experiences in China with the culture and the Chinese people. The book is well written, has a few, minor editing errors but in general, is an interesting read. As the author emphasizes that this is a non-fiction, true story, I have to question why he uses the name Andre Schwarz.

If you’re interested in five-star hotel management and exotic places, you’ll find something of interest here.

Kaye Trout - June 21, 2009