Jacob Tomsky is a dedicated veteran of the hospitality business.
Well-spoken, uncannily quick on his feet, and no more honest than
he needs to be, he also is the founder and president of Short Story
Thursdays, a weekly, email based short story club. His writing has
appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, O
Magazine, The Daily Beast, and other venues. Born in Oakland,
California, to a military family, Tomsky now lives in Brooklyn, New
York.
www.jacobtomsky.com
Praise for Heads in Beds:
"Heads in Beds is Mr. Tomsky’s highly amusing guidebook to the
dirty little secrets of the hospitality trade. But it is neither a
meanspirited book nor a one-sided one.... [H]e winds up sounding
like an essentially honest, decent guy. And his observations about
character are keen, perhaps because he’s seen it all.... If this
were simply a travel book of the news-you-can-use ilk, it would be
of only minor interest. But Mr. Tomsky turns out to be an
effervescent writer, with enough snark to make his stories
sharp-edged but without the self-promoting smugness that sinks so
many memoirs.... Heads in Beds embraces the full, novelistic
breadth of hotel experience.... [Tomsky] is no longer a hotel
employee and now, with good reason, thinks of himself as a
writer."
—Janet Maslin, New York Times
"For those of us who'd rather live in good hotels than in our own
homes, oh Lordy, is this ever a horrifyingly good time. It's the
sort of equivalent of WebMD for hypochondriacs: You know you're
learning way more than is good for you, but you just can't stop
reading. Tomsky, who may be an even better writer than a hotelier
(and he's a damn good hotelier) has worked every job and every
shift; he takes us into the bowels (sometimes literally) of the
hotel business, with all the pomp and circumstance, the hidden
filth, and the fears and aspirations and secrets of guests and
staff alike."—Judith Newman, People (4 Stars)
"For the uninitiated, staying at a luxury hotel can be a little
intimidating.... [But] front desk raconteur Jacob Tomsky is here to
help. His sharp-witted, candid new book, Heads in Beds, demystifies
the world of high-end hospitality.... Coarse, smart and wickedly
funny, the author delivers hilarious caricatures of the hotel
guests and colleagues he has encountered over the years.... Tightly
written and laced with delicious insider tips."—John Wilwol,
Washington Post
"A wonderfully indiscreet veteran of the hospitality industry,
Jacob Tomsky knows his way around a hotel."—PARADE
"Room upgrades. Free movies. Late checkouts. Jacob Tomsky promises
readers the keys to the hotel industry kingdom in his tell-all
book, Heads in Beds. The one-time philosophy major has spent more
than a decade working in the industry and, like room service, he
delivers the goods.... Beyond tips, Tomsky has packed his book with
outrageous anecdotes about guests...[and] the hotel staff
too.... Tomsky has only worked at hotels in New Orleans and
New York, so readers may wonder if his tips will work anywhere
else. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. But his stories are so
good, it almost doesn’t matter."—Jessica Gresko, Associated
Press
“Jacob Tomsky is a star. The kid writes like a dream. Heads in Beds
is hilarious, literate, canny, indignant and kind—revealing an
author who manages somehow to be both a total hustler and a
complete humanitarian. I love this book. Keep an eye on this
writer. I’m telling you, he’s a star.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search
for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
“And I thought I had it bad when I worked in restaurants! Heads in
Beds is a hilarious, informative, and naughty peek at what really
happens behind the glitz and glamour of the hotel experience. Not
content with dispensing advice on how to get a better room or
avoiding the vengeful wrath of bellhops, maids, doormen, and
front-desk clerks, Tomsky also spins a touching yarn on how he kept
his dignity and humanity intact while dealing with insufferable
guests, Expedia wannabes, predatory hotel managers, conniving
coworkers, and the occasional pervert. After reading this book,
you’ll become either a better-educated hotel guest who constantly
receives great service—or realize why you always get that noisy
room by the elevator shaft. As a survivor of America’s
dysfunctional hospitality industry, I highly recommend this
book.”
—Steve Dublanica, author of the New York Times bestseller Waiter
Rant
“In pulling the musty curtains back on the seedy hotel business,
Heads in Beds provides first-rate insights for all grades of
travelers. But the real revelation here is Jacob Tomsky, whose
writing combines presidential suite talent with rack-rate,
smoking-room, vending-machine-down-the-hall edge.”
—Chuck Thompson, author of Smile When You’re Lying: Confessions of
a Rogue Travel Writer
"Readable and often engaging.... [W]hen the author is passionate
about his career and is able to express his passion on the page, it
can be a joy to read... hilarious."—Kirkus Reviews
"Comparisons to Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential (2000) are
inevitable…. [B]oth Tomsky and Bourdain purport to expose the
underbelly of service industries with which most readers are
familiar, hotels and restaurants. But where Bourdain is all rock
’n’ roll, egotistical bluster, Tomsky is surprisingly earnest and
sympathetic; there are, after all, no television programs called
Top Desk Clerk. He wants your respect, not your adulation…. Indeed,
it would be easy to pen a book about crazy hotel guests. But this
memoir succeeds, instead, in humanizing the people who park our
cars, clean our hotel rooms, and carry our luggage. You will never
not tip housekeeping or your bellhop again. Tomsky fell into hotel
work and proved to be rather good at it; the same can be said for
his writing."—Booklist
"Those who want a hotel up-grade, who must make a same-day room
cancellation without getting charged, or wonder why hotel water
sometimes tastes like lemon Pledge need look no further than
Tomsky's memoir, a collection of stories, memories, and secrets
about the hospitality business. Bouncing around various hotel
jobs...for more than 10 years, he's got the skinny that would make
most travel sites blush.... But this is more than a collection of
trade secrets; it's a colorful tale filled with vibrant characters
from crazy bellmen to even crazier guests. Tomsky is a solid
storyteller who is able to intricately detail all the insanity
surrounding him."—Publishers Weekly
"With incredibly witty, from-the-gut prose, Mr. Tomsky provides an
inside scoop on the good, the bad, and the incredibly ugly
happenings that go on behind closed hotel doors—as well as front
desk antics that happen right before your untrained, naïve eyes....
A very fun, entertaining read. It is incredibly relatable,
not only for a consumer, but also for anyone who has worked in a
public-oriented service industry. Despite his brash language, or
perhaps in spite of it, the author comes across as sincere and
personable with the patience of a saint—or at least he’s really
good at faking it. Though it seems he was very good at this
job, it’s about time for Jacob Tomsky to move on to bigger and
better things. If this book is any indication, writing will be his
next calling."—Renee C. Fountain, New York Journal of Books
"Tomsky shines in...this funny and profane memoir."—Nathan Gelgud,
Biographile
"After the party, it’s the hotel lobby…. and that’s where things
get real. Jacob Tomsky’s hilariously irreverent memoir Heads in
Beds chronicles the all-work, no-sleep, but never dull lifestyle of
the young hotelier and the innermost workings of high-end
hotels...[and] shares five-star advice for your next
check-in."—Gina Angelotti, Metro
"Heads in Beds is at turns hilarious, sad, too revealing, naughty,
frightening and wildly fun. Tomsky proves to be a smart writer. His
voice is warm and accessible, but he's also pleasantly snarky and
potty-mouthed. He lets the reader see him at his smarmy,
smooth-operating best and his filthy, fed-up worst. (And the book
includes lots of tips, like how to eat and drink everything in your
minibar for free, how to get extra amenities, and all of the things
a hotel guest should never say to a front desk agent.)"—Alli
Marshall, Mountain Xpress
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