Celebrity Hotel - True Inside Gossip, Scandal and Intrigue (SIGNED COPY)

Kirby, Neil (as Told to Paul James)

ISBN 10: 1846244412 / ISBN 13: 9781846244414

Published by Book Guild Publishing, Brighton, 2010

About this Item

An As New copy with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. SIGNED BY AUTHOR WITH DEDICATION TO TITLE PAGE. Royalty, Hollywood stars and the fantastically rich have all come through the doors of the Grosvenor Hotel on London's Park Lane, one of the world's premier five star hotels. Its former General Manager divulges royal slip-ups, tales of wealthy excess, forgotten items by guests such as a box with half a million pounds in it, a Ferrari and a Rolls Royce. Princess Margaret used to be taken up to a retiring room, where a bottle of Famous Grouse whisky would be waiting for her and by the time she returned to the Great Room to watch the dancing, she would have consumed almost the entire bottle. Neil Kirby went on to own his own Hotel - the Langham in Eastbourne, a four star hotel. L Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Seller Inventory # 010903

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Celebrity Hotel - True Inside Gossip, Scandal and Intrigue (SIGNED COPY)
• Publisher: Book Guild Publishing, Brighton
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846244412
• ISBN 13: 9781846244414
• Binding: Hard Cover
• Edition: First.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Signed by Author
• Seller catalogs:
  • Miscellany

About this title

Synopsis

Royalty, Hollywood stars, and the fantastically rich - all come through the doors of the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane, one of the world's premier five-star hotels. This magnificent palace of luxury boasts almost 452 bedrooms, 160 apartments, an opulent ballroom and a 2,000-capacity 'Great Room' that, over the years, has played host to an array of glittering events from society charity balls to TV award ceremonies.

In Celebrity Hotel, Neil Kirby, a former General Manager of Grosvenor House, looks back at his extraordinary rise from below-the-stairs washer-up to bespoke-suited manager. Whether he's encountering a naked Natalie Wood, making sure that Luciano Pavarotti's bed is big and strong enough, or supervising a charity luncheon attended by Princess Diana, Neil Kirby shares the secrets of this exclusive institution and gives us a vivid portrait of two contrasting worlds - on the one hand, the sheer graft of the hundreds of maids and pageboys, porters and valets seeking to boost their meagre wages and, on the other, the vanities, whims and oddities of the guests themselves, for whom money seems no object.

About the Author

Neil Kirby began his career at London's prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane at the age of 15½, washing up in the basement. He quickly progressed to valet, working on a daily basis with Hollywood film stars, royalty, international politicians, top sportsmen, and many well-known celebrities. Neil eventually became General Manager of Grosvenor House, and in 2005 bought his own multi-million pound hotel in Eastbourne.

Paul James is the author of 93 books, including a number of royal biographies, and has ghosted many books for a wide range of celebrities.