Posted on: January 14, 2013 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Probably the most surprising revelation from Jacob Tomsky’s Heads In Beads, the highly entertaining behind the scenes look at the hospitality industry, is the fact that he’s still working in it, (at least by the end of the writing of the memoir he was. No idea if he left the hotels game for good after publication).

Head In Beds reads almost like fiction thanks to Tomsky’s knack for first-person story telling. Acting almost as a companion piece to Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, longtime hotel industry careerist (from hotel valet to head of housekeeping to front desk) Tomsky offers a behind the scenes look at the industry, from four star to no star hotels across the country. Included are plenty of great tips. According to Tomsky no need to pay for those pay movies you “ordered by accident” or even that booze you drained from the in room mini fridge as they can easily be disputed. It helps that just about anyone with a key on the staff could have easily taken the booze from your room.

Crammed beside these helpful tips, Tomsky shares his own personal experiences, some positive (especially at his first hotel in New Orleans), and some pretty negative ones (mostly from his most recent experiences in New York). Hence the surprise that the author, toward the end of the book, mentions that he’s still in the industry. Very revealing and equally entertaining.

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Heads In Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky/Hardcover, 256 pages/Doubleday/2012

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