Be My Guest

Be My Guest is the autobiography of Conrad Hilton. The book was written during the 1950s and published in 1958. Be My Guest begins with the story of Conrad Hilton’s childhood and upbringing in New Mexico before it became a state. He writes at great length about his deeply religious mother and his merchant father. His parents passed down their strong convictions in prayer and hard work onto Conrad Hilton. These two themes are written at great length throughout the book and the reader is given numerous examples of these themes that played a part in many of Conrad Hilton’s business dealings and his personal life.The book goes on to chronicle Conrad Hilton’s time as a politician, a soldier in World War I, and as a banker before he decided to become a hotelier. It was when Conrad Hilton decided to go into the hotel business, he would go on to make his fortune and his legacy. Exciting portions of the book include when Conrad Hilton nearly lost everything during the Great Depression, acquiring management rights to the Waldorf Astoria, and the expansion of Hilton Hotels internationally.Overall, Be My Guest is a must-read for anyone interested in the hotel industry and the success of Conrad Hilton. It is a compelling story that begins with humble beginnings in New Mexico and ends with a global hotel empire. Five out of five stars!

Pleasant storytelling about one of the early giants in the hotel industry. I read this maybe 30 years ago or more when I found a copy inside night table drawer in the hotel room. It was placed next to the Gideon Bible (remember those). I enjoyed it so much but I left the book for someone else to read. I've been looking for this for 10 years. Great re-read. Kinda like Harold Robbins' The Carpetbaggers without the sex and fictional out-there characters. The treasure here is the man himself and the making out-West of an empire the hard way, service, quality, honesty. An real American frontier story goes international.

Love this book. Every person who stays in hotels or works in one should read it. Conrad Hilton had meager beginnings with his parents in New Mexico. His mother was the pillar of his life through his successes and failures. He loved old dowager hotels and restoring them when he started. He was a work horse. And when we see gift shops and boutiques in hotels, we can thank him for that because he started them. Easy, informative read. I don't think he would be happy with his grand daughter, Paris. Have bought several of the books to give friends.

This is one of the best books I have ever read....and I read a lot. The insight to this man who grew up so simply and was taught to be a good business man by his father, his strong faith taught him by his mother, never lost sight of his values despite becoming a billionaire. I am recommending it to all of my friends.

Mr. Hilton was an interesting, smart, and hard working individual. Loved reading and learning about him. Liked the book so much I may read it again. Usually do not read books twice.

Slow start but turned into a good read. Very interesting.

This is a simple short book that is both an interesting true story of Hilton's rise and a guide of inspiration if you plan on being in any kind of hospitality business. I doubt his success could be done the exact same way now, but the principles should apply in any time. And it's currently available used for 1 penny!

This book gives a good history of the hotel magnate and zi found it quite interesting. However there were a number of things that were omitted, including allegations by his wife ZaZa Gabor and his son's Nick's wife Elizabeth Taylor, that were not addressed in this book. It would have interesting to know his take on these allegations but there were never even mentioned.

It's a lovely book, it is more of the early frontier american history and business taking shape, than a hotel book. Tells the story of Hospitality giant and how his living formed his business-hotel mindset. It also tells interesting stories about other personalities of the time and also landmark properties. Every hotellier should read it out of historical perspective.

It’s in the headline!

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everything was ok

Hi guys,I read this book because Dan Kennedy mentioned it in one of his marketing books..It is a rags to riches story about Conrad Hilton, the guy who started Hilton hotels as we know it.(This is before the days of Paris Hilton, Conrad was not born into money & fame!)I was expecting to learn about entrepreneurial skills.. which I did a little, but I got more out of this book than I was expecting.. I got a cultural history lesson and an ethics lesson !It was written in 1957 and covered Conrad's life in older times still, he talks about his parents, before the 1st world war.. What was lovely, was I got an insight into the old days, how people lived.. before technology as we know it today.. and before some cities were even built..I never realised that hotels in the past didn't have room service, or getting a pickup from the station by taxi, 100 years ago, was unheard of.. stuff we take for granted now, but at one point didn't exist..I feel I gained a renewed sense of ethics that may well help me in my own ventures in the future.. I'm not a Christian, and Connie does go on about the Christian 'God' alot.. occasionally too much, but never enough to really bother me, I understood where he was coming from, and was interesting to see how his faith helped him..The first chapter, I found hard and boring to read, fortunately shortly after, I started getting into this book, and am really glad I read it.There are as you can expect, a number of little pears of wisdom scattered throughout this book, and Im sure each reader will find their own nuggets.It's not a big book.. 280+ pages, and a very nice little read.. Worth it in my opinion.Have fun