Danielle Steel’s dazzling new novel invites readers into the ultra-glamorous world of a five-star New York hotel, and brings to vivid life the man who builds it as his dream, the girl who grows up in its loving embrace, and the colorful guests and staff who make its magic complete.   HOTEL VENDÔME   The hotel was old, run-down. But to Swiss-born Hugues Martin, a young, ambitious hotelier trained in the most illustrious European traditions, it is a rough diamond, tucked away on a quiet, perfectly situated Manhattan street. After begging and borrowing every penny he can scrape together, Hugues purchases the building—and transforms it into one of the world’s finest luxury hotels. Under Hugues’s tireless, exacting supervision, the Hotel Vendôme is soon renowned for its elegance, its efficiency, its unparalleled service and discretion—the ideal New York refuge for the rich and famous, as well as a perfect home for Hugues’s beautiful young wife and their daughter. But when his wife runs off with a notorious rock star, Hugues is suddenly a single parent to four-year-old Heloise—who will grow up happily regardless, amid a fascinating milieu of celebrities, socialites, politicians, world travelers, and the countless hotel employees who all adore her. As the years pass, Hugues and the hotel are the center of Heloise’s life, a universe of unexpected mysteries and pleasures, crises and celebrations that make every day magical. She longs to follow in her father’s footsteps and one day run the Vendôme with him. New challenges mark her way: an unexpected romance for Hugues and her own journey to hotel school in Switzerland. The lessons she has learned at her father’s side, in their exciting upstairs/downstairs world, will carry her through it all, as they illuminate a story no reader will forget. Welcome to the Hotel Vendôme. Praise for Danielle Steel “Steel is one of the best!” — Los Angeles Times “Few modern writers convey the pathos of family and material life with such heartfelt empathy.” — The Philadelphia Inquirer “Steel pulls out all the emotional stops. . . . She delivers!” — Publishers Weekly “What counts for the reader is the ring of authenticity.” — San Francisco Chronicle Danielle Steel  has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 650 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include  Country, Prodigal Son, Pegasus,   A Perfect Life, Power Play, Winners, First Sight, Until the End of Time, The Sins of the Mother,  and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of  His Bright Light,  the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death;  A Gift of Hope,  a memoir of her work with the homeless;  Pure Joy,  about the dogs she and her family have loved; and the children’s book  Pretty Minnie in Paris. Chapter 1 The scene in the lobby of the Hotel Vendôme on East 69th Street in New York was one of impeccable elegance and meticulous precision. The black-and-white-checked-marble floors were immaculate, red runners were rolled out the instant there was a drop of rain outside, the moldings on the walls were exquisite, and the enormous crystal chandelier that hung in the lobby was reminiscent of the finest palaces in Europe. The hotel was much smaller than the one that had inspired its decor, but for practiced travelers, it was remarkably similar to the Ritz in Paris, where the Hotel Vendôme's owner had worked as an assistant manager for two years, during his training in the finest hotels in Europe. Hugues Martin was forty years old, a graduate of the illustrious and respected École Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland, and the hotel on Manhattan's Upper East Side was his dream. He still couldn't believe how lucky he had been, how perfectly it had all come together five years before. His Swiss banker father and equally conservative mother had been devastated when he announced that he wanted to go to hotel school. He came from a family of bankers, and they thought that running a hotel, or working in one, had a seamy quality to it, of which they strongly disapproved. They had done everything they could to talk him out of it, to no avail. After four years at the school in Lausanne, he trained and eventually had respected positions at the Hotel du Cap in Cap d'Antibes, the Ritz in Paris, and Claridge's in London, and even did a brief stint at the famed Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. He figured out during that time that if he ever had his own hotel, he wanted it to be somewhere in the States. Hugues worked at the Plaza in New York before it closed for extensive renovations, and he assumed that he was still light-years away from his dream. Then it happened. The Hotel Mulberry was put up for sale, a small tired hotel that had been run-down for years and had never been considered chic, despite its perfect location. When he heard about it, Hugues put together every penny of his savings, took out every loan he could get in both New York and Switzerlan