13 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a disappointing supper leaves you owning a luxury hotel—and caught in its secrets?
Theodore Racksole is an American millionaire who expects to get what he asks for. When a London hotel cannot satisfy him, he buys the place. But the Grand Babylon offers more than marble corridors and fine manners. A crime, a missing royal guest and foreign plots turn ownership into a dangerous business.
His daughter Nella Racksole is quick, brave and curious enough to become an active partner in the mystery. Around them, princes, financiers and servants share a world of hidden purposes. In The Grand Babylon Hôtel, Arnold Bennett mixes crime and adventure with a sharp comic eye for money, rank and the power of getting your way.
What you’ll discover
- A purchase with consequences Follow a millionaire whose answer to bad service draws him into an unexpected mystery.
- A daughter with nerve Meet Nella, whose courage and curiosity make her much more than a bystander.
- Secrets behind grand manners Step into a hotel where titled guests bring hidden purposes beneath a smooth surface.
- Money meets royal rank Watch Bennett play with wealth and status, as money opens doors a title cannot.
- Speed with a smile Enjoy brisk chapters that leave you with a question or a small shock.
Who will love it
Readers who love clever heroines, fast-moving plots and old London hotels will enjoy this novel. It also suits fans of mysteries that blend comedy, romance and royal secrets.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A refused dinner changes the owner
- Small clues disturb the new owner
- A death becomes a deeper mystery
- Nella follows suspicion into danger
- Royal debts reveal a possible motive
- The danger returns to the hotel
- Ownership does not guarantee real power
- Curiosity turns Nella into a detective
Who’s who
- Theodore RacksoleA rich American who buys the hotel on a whim, then refuses to let its mysteries go unsolved.
- Nella RacksoleHis quick, spoiled and fearless daughter, who takes a job at the hotel desk and follows clues on her own.
- JulesThe proud head waiter of the hotel, clever and cold, who has plans of his own under his formal manner.
- RoccoThe great chef who earns a fortune and invents his recipes in his head, yet has a second life.
- Prince Aribert of PosenA serious young royal who arrives alone and worried, and who wants to find his missing nephew.
- Felix BabylonThe Swiss founder of the hotel, who sells it to Racksole and warns him it holds secrets.
- Miss SpencerThe elegant office clerk who knows every timetable and has a hidden loyalty.
- Sampson LeviA plain-spoken stockbroker who lends money to princes and offers Racksole a useful alliance.
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The Grand Babylon Hôtel
by Arnold Bennett · 1902
A millionaire orders steak and beer, buys a London hotel on a whim, and finds its staff hiding a murder.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
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“excellent in the mingling of farce and characterization.”
In short
What would you do if a waiter refused to serve you dinner? Theodore Racksole, one of the richest men in America, faces exactly that on a sultry June evening at the Grand Babylon, London's most exclusive hotel.
The Grand Babylon Hôtel at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 20 min3 h 30 min fast, 5 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 62,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1902by Arnold Bennett
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A steak and a bottle of Bass
The story opens in the smoking room of the Grand Babylon, where Jules, the head waiter, rules like a small king. A new guest, Theodore Racksole of New York, asks for a drink called an Angel Kiss. It is made of maraschino, cream and crème de menthe, poured in layers. Jules takes this as an insult to a hotel that despises everything American.
The hotel is a world of its own. It has a private door for royal visitors and a rule that nobody ever mentions prices. Its three gods are Jules, the clerk Miss Spencer and the chef Rocco. Racksole is the third richest man in America, yet nobody in London knows his face.
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Details
- First published
- 1902
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Bennett, Arnold. The Grand Babylon Hôtel. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-grand-babylon-hotel.
Bennett, A. (2026). The Grand Babylon Hôtel. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-grand-babylon-hotel (Original work published 1902)
Bennett, Arnold. The Grand Babylon Hôtel. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-grand-babylon-hotel.
@book{bennett2026grand,
author = {Bennett, Arnold},
title = {The Grand Babylon Hôtel},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-grand-babylon-hotel},
note = {First published 1902}
}
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What is The Grand Babylon Hôtel about?
It follows an American millionaire, Theodore Racksole, who buys a famous London hotel and soon discovers a plot involving a dead guest, a vanished body and a missing German prince. His daughter Nella helps him investigate.
Who is Jules in The Grand Babylon Hôtel?
Jules is the dignified head waiter of the hotel, one of its three powerful servants. He is polished, observant and secretive, and he becomes Racksole's chief puzzle once strange events begin.
Is The Grand Babylon Hôtel based on a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by Arnold Bennett, written in the Edwardian period. The grand hotels, Balkan politics and royal visitors were familiar features of the age, which gives the story its lively flavor.
The author
Arnold Bennett
1867–1931 · English novelist
Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) was an English novelist and journalist born in Hanley, Staffordshire. He lived in London and France before returning to England. He wrote The Grand Babylon Hôtel (1902), The Old Wives’ Tale (1908), and How to Live on 24 Hours a Day (1910). He died in London.
“Because I always get what I want.”
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