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A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality
Doubleday
November 2012
On Sale: November 20, 2012
304 pages ISBN: 0385535635 EAN: 9780385535632 Kindle: B0086MKQSU Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
In the tradition of Kitchen Confidential and
Waiter Rant, a rollicking, eye-opening, fantastically
indiscreet memoir of a life spent (and misspent) in the
hotel industry.
Jacob Tomsky never
intended to go into the hotel business. As a new
college graduate, armed only with a philosophy degree and a
singular lack of career direction, he became a valet parker
for a large luxury hotel in New Orleans. Yet, rising fast
through the ranks, he ended up working in “hospitality” for
more than a decade, doing everything from supervising the
housekeeping department to manning the front desk at an
upscale Manhattan hotel. He’s checked you in, checked you
out, separated your white panties from the white bed
sheets, parked your car, tasted your room-service meals,
cleaned your toilet, denied you a late checkout, given you a
wake-up call, eaten M&Ms out of your minibar, laughed
at your jokes, and taken your money. In Heads in
Beds he pulls back the curtain to expose the crazy and
compelling reality of a multi-billion-dollar industry we
think we know. Heads in Beds is a
funny, authentic, and irreverent chronicle of the highs and
lows of hotel life, told by a keenly observant insider
who’s seen it all. Prepare to be amused, shocked, and
amazed as he spills the unwritten code of the bellhops, the
antics that go on in the valet parking garage, the
housekeeping department’s dirty little secrets—not to
mention the shameless activities of the guests, who are
rarely on their best behavior. Prepare to be moved, too,
by his candor about what it’s like to toil in a highly
demanding service industry at the luxury level, where
people expect to get what they pay for (and often a whole
lot more). Employees are poorly paid and frequently abused
by coworkers and guests alike, and maintaining a semblance
of sanity is a daily challenge. Along his journey
Tomsky also reveals the secrets of the industry, offering
easy ways to get what you need from your hotel without any
hassle. This book (and a timely proffered twenty-dollar
bill) will help you score late checkouts and upgrades, get
free stuff galore, and make that pay-per-view charge
magically disappear. Thanks to him you’ll know how to get
the very best service from any business that makes its
money from putting heads in beds. Or, at the very least, you
will keep the bellmen from taking your luggage into the
camera-free back office and bashing it against the wall
repeatedly
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