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Bedtime Stories of the Legendary Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs
Bedtime Stories of the Ingleside Inn is a charming, often hilarious book describing the forays of a novice restaurateur and hotelier, Melvyn Haber, into the exotic world of French chefs, lovable con-men and "Big Spenders." As a raconteur, Haber has a few equals. With his droll wit and style, he wends his way through one outrageous escapade after another and takes you along for the entertaining ride!
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Mel Haber
5 books2 followersMelvyn "Mel" Haber, internationally-acclaimed restaurateur and innkeeper/owner of the historic Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's Restaurant was a gracious host to the world's elite and a generous humanitarian and philanthropist.
His wit and talent for storytelling was legendary. In his signature self-deprecating manner, Mel Haber often recounted how he managed to parlay virtually no previous experience in the hospitality industry into an enormously successful business despite himself. He characteristically turned his jokes on himself, which was a large part of his charm that endeared him to countless visitors from around the globe.
The irrepressible restaurateur documented his misadventures and encounters with the rich and famous at his renowned establishment in a 1995 humorous tome called Bedtime Stories of the Legendary Ingleside Inn. In 2009, he wrote a second book Palm Springs á la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway, co-written by author Marshall Terrill.
His wit and talent for storytelling was legendary. In his signature self-deprecating manner, Mel Haber often recounted how he managed to parlay virtually no previous experience in the hospitality industry into an enormously successful business despite himself. He characteristically turned his jokes on himself, which was a large part of his charm that endeared him to countless visitors from around the globe.
The irrepressible restaurateur documented his misadventures and encounters with the rich and famous at his renowned establishment in a 1995 humorous tome called Bedtime Stories of the Legendary Ingleside Inn. In 2009, he wrote a second book Palm Springs á la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway, co-written by author Marshall Terrill.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 7, 2021
This guy is the great weasel we’ve all met and recognized as a weasel, but nevertheless love him for what he is.
I read this book as a pre-lim to a visit at legendary Ingleside Inn. I totally enjoyed the read, and it made me even more eager to visit.
To the book itself: It only aspires to be … less than a book. Accomplished.
Like other reviews, I enjoyed this plenty. It started as a pamphlet for guests at Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs featuring a few of these stories. I suspect the original guest-version Bed Time Stories were more or less the “Vignettes” section at the end of the book, but that doesn’t matter. Except that those short anecdotes play quite well, while most of the longer ones which make the bulk of the book don’t.
Quick read. Easy read. Fun for the timestamp of 70s-80s-90s Palm Springs/cocaine/party-era. Of course, this is subtext because the author is unaware entirely of himself in this regard. (then again, who is in their own era?)
I believe about 33% of these stories. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the premise and general parameters of them all. But Mel Haber, the author, makes me believe (through what he writes in this very book) that he’s fabricating, fudging, or omitting many essential elements.
He tells so many stories wherein he is taking a gamble at major capital gains and most every story ends with his getting spanked by a shyster. He loses money but he is the loveable rube who never learns his lesson about easy money.
My takeaway is that this book is only his PR compilation of his losses from being such a great guy. I would like to read the book about him being a dick, where he makes the thousands he is willing to risk in all these hilarious endeavors. And I would probably not enjoy it less.
As a book, however, the author was expectedly self-serving, but I believe ultimately dishonest. It was clear to me he is a cheesy huckster. I lived through the 80s-90s as a young adult and I saw his type. Cheeseball. Cheeseball in a velvet jacket.
Make no mistake. He’s a fine guy, probably. His hotel is probably first class. His stories are fun and enjoyable and probably more-or-less true. But for me, it’s in the more-or-less.
I read this book as a pre-lim to a visit at legendary Ingleside Inn. I totally enjoyed the read, and it made me even more eager to visit.
To the book itself: It only aspires to be … less than a book. Accomplished.
Like other reviews, I enjoyed this plenty. It started as a pamphlet for guests at Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs featuring a few of these stories. I suspect the original guest-version Bed Time Stories were more or less the “Vignettes” section at the end of the book, but that doesn’t matter. Except that those short anecdotes play quite well, while most of the longer ones which make the bulk of the book don’t.
Quick read. Easy read. Fun for the timestamp of 70s-80s-90s Palm Springs/cocaine/party-era. Of course, this is subtext because the author is unaware entirely of himself in this regard. (then again, who is in their own era?)
I believe about 33% of these stories. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the premise and general parameters of them all. But Mel Haber, the author, makes me believe (through what he writes in this very book) that he’s fabricating, fudging, or omitting many essential elements.
He tells so many stories wherein he is taking a gamble at major capital gains and most every story ends with his getting spanked by a shyster. He loses money but he is the loveable rube who never learns his lesson about easy money.
My takeaway is that this book is only his PR compilation of his losses from being such a great guy. I would like to read the book about him being a dick, where he makes the thousands he is willing to risk in all these hilarious endeavors. And I would probably not enjoy it less.
As a book, however, the author was expectedly self-serving, but I believe ultimately dishonest. It was clear to me he is a cheesy huckster. I lived through the 80s-90s as a young adult and I saw his type. Cheeseball. Cheeseball in a velvet jacket.
Make no mistake. He’s a fine guy, probably. His hotel is probably first class. His stories are fun and enjoyable and probably more-or-less true. But for me, it’s in the more-or-less.
January 14, 2019
Interesting stories from a Palm Springs hotelier. What an interesting life Mel Haber lived. A successful businessman and generous philanthropist. It was enjoyable learning more about a man I’d met a few times and have always been curious to know more about.
June 24, 2022
Starts better than it ends when the vignettes are, mostly dealing with conmen, are cuter, but descends into sketching edited stories about the greatest hotelier/resteraunteur of Palm Springs. Fun, fast read.
December 26, 2018
short anecdotes from an exclusive hotelier in palm springs, most were very amusing. an entertaining, quick read.
February 2, 2016
Fun, and light read. No need to read it in regular order from page 1 to the end. I started with the story of Sinatra, then how he came to own Melvyn's then skipped around reading each story in the order the subject most appealed to me.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews