About

"More than anyone else in the hotel business, Hans Gerhardt changed the way the industry does business," says President and CEO of Postmedia Network - Paul Godfrey. "He is a great promoter and great creator."

Operating some of the world's most famous and exclusive hotels exposed Hans Gerhardt to the private lives of kings and queens, world leaders and movie stars. He has been trapped on an elevator with a notorious dictator, cracked jokes with Prince Philip, drank expensive wine with Charlton Heston, helped Dudley Moore escape marauding Japanese tourists and Burt Reynolds woo Loni Anderson. David Carradine mooned him, Sophia Loren dazzled, The Queen Mother charmed, and Marlon Brando directed traffic during an early morning fire alarm.

But HotelBiz: A Memoir is more than just a collection of fascinating anecdotes about famous people-—although it is certainly that, too--it is also a compelling rags-to-riches story, how a child of the deprivation of post-war Germany became a cabin boy sailing the world and rose to become Canada's best-known hotelier.

It is a story of great triumph and of heart-rending tragedy: Hans for the first time tells how he lost his son Ralph in the attack on the World Trade Center Sept 11, 2001.

He takes the reader behind the scenes to detail his many years in the hotel business, from his days as a waiter at a small inn in Germany to running the Sutton Place, Toronto's premiere hotel to overseeing hotel operations in the Caribbean and Canada.

Filled with insight, humor, and drama, Hans Gerhardt's HotelBiz: A Memoir offers a unique window into one's man's adventure-filled life and the business he loves.

Reviews

"It's funny in places, heart-wrenching in others, a clearly-written, honest portrait of hotel life in Toronto in the last few decades of the 20th Century."
Colleen Isherwood, Editor for Canadian Lodging News

"A riveting an often most touching life story. It brings back great nostalgia for the good ol' Sutton Place days when Hans was stylishly at the helm."
Christopher Plummer, actor

"Against all odds Hans Gerhardt's remarkable story goes from growing up in war-torn poverty of Germany to hosting kings and queens in Canada— and along the way overcoming tragedy and turning it into triumph time and again. HotelBiz is an extraordinarily intimate story of how he became 'the hotelier to the stars' and the adventures that arose from being the 'host with the most' as the world's best hotelier."
Robin Leach, television personality

"From von Braun to the shocking tragedy of 9/11, a story of courage and perseverance. Simply grabs your attention."
Eric Braeden, star of The Young and the Restless

Order an autographed copy - only via PayPal

A limited number of autographed copies are only being sold through PayPal.

Quantity and location 1 book for $25 CDN (shipped within Canada only) $25.00 3 books for $65 CDN (shipped within Canada only) $65.00 1 book for $30 CDN (shipped internationally) $30.00 3 books for $75 CDN (shipped internationally) $75.00

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Related links

Visit the Ralph Gerhardt memorial website.