Hotel Vendome

The hotel was old, run-down. But to Swiss-born Hugues Martin, a young, ambitious hotelier trained in the most illustrious European traditions, it is a rough diamond, tucked away on a quiet, perfectly situated Manhattan street. After begging and borrowing every penny he can scrape together, Hugues purchases the building and transforms it into one of the worlds finest luxury hotels. Under Huguess tireless, exacting supervision, the Hotel Vendme is soon renowned for its elegance, its efficiency, its unparalleled service and discretion the ideal New York refuge for the rich and famous, as well as a perfect home for Huguess beautiful young wife and their daughter. But when his wife runs off with a notorious rock star, Hugues is suddenly a single parent to four-year-old Heloise who will grow up happily regardless, amid a fascinating milieu of celebrities, socialites, politicians, world travelers, and the countless hotel employees who all adore her. As the years pass, Hugues and the hotel are the center of Heloises life, a universe of unexpected mysteries and pleasures, crises and celebrations that make every day magical. She longs to follow in her fathers footsteps and one day run the Vendme with him. New challenges mark her way: an unexpected romance for Hugues and her own journey to hotel school in Switzerland. The lessons she has learned at her fathers side, in their exciting upstairs-downstairs world, will carry her through it all, as they illuminate a story no listener will forget. Welcome to the Hotel Vendme.