Hotel (novel)

Hotel is a 1965 novel by Arthur Hailey. It is the story of an independent New Orleans hotel, the St. Gregory, and its management's struggle to regain profitability and avoid being assimilated into the O'Keefe chain of hotels. The St. Gregory is supposedly based on the Roosevelt Hotel, although the old St. Charles Hotel is also cited as the basis for the novel.

The novel was adapted into a movie in 1967, and in 1983 Aaron Spelling turned into a television series, airing for five years on ABC. In the TV series the St. Gregory Hotel was moved from New Orleans to San Francisco.

Peter McDermott: The main character is Mr. Peter McDermott; the general manager with a past. He is a graduate in Hotel Management from Cornell University and subsequently got a job in a hotel. However, he had been involved with a lady at time when he was supposed to be on duty. This gave Peter’s wife and the lady’s husband a reason to ask for a divorce. McDermott's dalliance was not a big thing for the hotel, but the newspaper coverage was such that he was dismissed from his job and blacklisted. But Warren Trent, the head of the St. Gregory Hotel, ignoring the past and considering the skill, hired him. The novel is about McDermott's attempts to deal with several crises in the hotel which involve a range of other characters.

The Hotel Finance Problem: The Hotel's unpayable and unrenewable mortgage is due on Friday, necessitating its sale. Curtis O'Keefe, who owns a large hotel chain, plans to buy the St. Gregory hotel as the O'Keefe chain did not have a hotel in New Orleans. They had offered to pay the two million due on the mortgage and one million dollar and living accommodation to Warren Trent as well. However Warren did not want to lose the hotel which he had nurtured for so long. They decided upon a deadline of Friday afternoon to make a decision on the deal. Warren Trent meanwhile decided to make a deal with the Journeyman's Union who had long wanted to enter the hotel Industry but were not successful. This way Warren Trent could maintain the hotel's independence and still have a say in its affairs. The Journeyman's Union had decided to send two of its executives on Thursday to study the hotel books and then decide before the Friday afternoon deadline. Royall Edwards of the St. Gregory had been appointed by Warren Trent to work with the two officers all night,if required, so that they could complete the study. However, upset with the denial of entry of a Negro man to the hotel, which made headlines, the Journeyman's Union broke the deal. Warren Trent had no option but to give in to Curtis O'Keefe. To his utmost surprise, a few minutes before Friday noon, the bank manager who had turned down refinancing of the hotel, came with an offer, that an individual, whose name could not be disclosed then, would be paying the mortgage and buying the major shares of the Hotel. Warren Trent would be the chairman, though Warren knew that he would be just a figurehead but as it was a better offer, so he accepted.

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