The book, an autobiography, is about a boy who spends most of his childhood in a bar, surrounded by the most colourful characters from whom he learns about love, life, sex and everything else in between.

The boy’s dream is to write a book about the bar and in one scene, a character named Bill says to him, “Every book is a miracle. Every book represents a moment when someone sat quietly—and that quiet is part of the miracle, make no mistake—and tried to tell the rest of us a story.”

These were the words that came to my head when I sat in the bar of this hotel which is known as “Un Hotel Litteraire” and I wondered how many authors such as Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway have sat here quietly to try and tell the rest of us a story.

See, this is the bar which became the haunt of American authors between the two world wards and became particularly famous among New Yorkers during the Prohibition era when forbidden grapes certainly tasted sweeter than at home. 

It was one of the first cocktail bars in Paris and was at first shunned by the Parisians who did not believe in alcoholic mixes but later, names such as Jean-Paul Satre and Simone de Beauvoir were also seen at the bar.

The night I was there, I didn’t spot any literary giants but a Parisian friend of mine, Pierre-Edmond Robert, himself a published author, says the bar is the de factor headquarters of French publishing house, Gallimard.

Says Pierre, who has collaborated on various critical editions with Gallimard, “With Gallimard being located at 5, rue Sébastien-Bottin, where it meets with rue Montalembert, the hotels and restaurants on rue Montalembert have been patronized over the years by authors and editors connected with the publishing house.”

“Generally, publishing houses in Paris favour the bar of a hotel nearby, or a particular restaurant, for business or private meetings.

“Hotel Pont Royal, 5, rue Montalembert, has been displaying the label: “hôtel littéraire” for the past 10 years or so. But it has been famous as a hangout for the literati since the 1950’s. Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Genet appear on the photos displayed in the lobby, along with many other well known authors. Their current counterparts continue that tradition.”

For Olivia Blanchett, the general manager, this literary history is crucial to giving her hotel a personality and character in a city with so many hotels. “We try and recreate the history and use it to tell our story in everything we do.”

Having this story thread also gives staff a focal point to get enthusiastic about, and she hopes to leverage this in her mission to improve service standards at the hotel.

See, Blanchett wants to get Asian customers to her 75-room hotel – right now, the bulk – almost 60% – of her customers come from the US and UK with some French and South American business.

And with the global financial crisis hurting the US and continuing to dog the UK, she knows she has to look to the region. “The American business has come back, the UK is proving more difficult,” she said. “We are 25% up on 2009 but we now want to capture new markets.”

The group her hotel belongs to – Les Hotels Duroy – is opening a sales office in Tokyo, the first market she will tap. She is also hoping her WORLDHOTELS membership will help her open markets in India and China.

And she knows that to please the Asian customer, she has to work on service improvements. “They have higher expectations of service than most customers from the West. The service in Japan is incredible,” she said.

“Generally customers now have higher expectations. Rates are higher too. So now we have to work on the service. It is difficult to get people to multi-task here but I think the key is to get staff enthusiastic about the product and philosophy and everything else follows from there.”

This explains why Blanchett is also excited about the opening of the new Shangri-La Hotel, Paris, last December. “I am curious to see the style of service they will bring to Paris,” she said. “We can learn from them.”

Being a small hotel, the Internet is an important channel, giving her 30% of business. Of that, the majority comes through her own website. Another 20% comes through direct telephone. 

“We will be investing in our website and working more actively through blogs and social media,” she said.

At this point, I asked her what she thought of the Kindle, given that I was reading “The Tender Bar” on it and if devices such as these would kill the romance of books and literature, the very foundation of her hotel’s story.

Picking up my Kindle, she laughed and said, “I don’t think I will use it. First, I am French. Second, I am old.”
I like a woman who tells a story like it is.