Hotel Tales, the new book in town
This article was first published in The Star on July 4, 2019
Some years ago, a group of hotel staff came together to free a rotund man, trapped by bathtub suction by applying a copious amount of butter.
Then, there was a service intern, who was thanked personally by Bryan Adams for getting him three bananas for breakfast at a five-star hotel. She had no idea he is a rock star.
There are more – an in-house attack and even “visitors from another world” – stories shared by hoteliers at their workplaces.
Following the overwhelming success of his first two books, veteran hotelier Hanley Chew (pic) is back with his latest sequel – Even More Hotel Tales – that promises more never-been-told stories from the hotel industry.
“This book is another compilation of stories, where a platform is provided for hoteliers to share their various tales at work.
“The collection in this book was shared with me during my travels all over the world,” he said after the book launch in conjunction with the 2nd Hospitality Malaysia Conference by Escom Event yesterday.
Chew said the multifaceted and frenetic industry environment gave birth to the myriad and sometimes, mystifying challenges encountered by hoteliers at all operation levels.“To non-hoteliers, they tend to see hotels in a calm and luxurious setting with chandeliers, thick carpets and other decorations.
“But behind the scenes, we deal with people from different backgrounds and expectations; and in the process come across all sorts of incidents and encounters,” he said, adding that the new book contains a fair share of eerie stories, happy and sad tales, including inspirational accounts.
Chew, who has been in the hospitality industry for over two decades, first published Hotel Tales in 2011 with over 12,000 copies sold.
The book won top prize in the fiction category for the Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards in 2012, giving Chew motivation to write More Hotel Tales, published in 2013.
Chew asked hoteliers to share their tales, including the amount of hard work that goes into delivering a simple task.
“I wanted to write my own stories when I first started.
“But one cannot have that many stories to share and it will be unrealistic.
“That’s why I used this as a platform for hoteliers from various departments to tell their stories.
“Probably, my last book will be a collection of my own,” he said, adding that the book would be translated into Thai and Vietnamese.
Chew said the e-book version for his second and latest books would be available soon.
Priced at RM34.90, the 198-page book will be available at MPH and POPULAR bookstores nationwide from July 15 onwards.
Link: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/07/04/hotelier-back-with-even-more-hotel-tales/
Hotel Tales series in paperback and e-book (USD1.99) are also available on www.hoteltales.net
Hotel Tales believes in sharing stories, opportunities, and many more for the hotelier community. Come on and join our Affiliate Programme or let us in on ‘What’s Your Story’ by writing to us at hello@hoteltales.net