I wanted to read this since I am currently in the Netherlands and wanted to read a different viewpoint.
This was not the book for me. I struggled to reach the 50% mark and could go no further.
I found the concept and discussion of tourists versus visitors interesting the first time around but they were the only draw for me. The tone and certain other thoughts of the central figure were offputting to me.
Since I was unable to finish the book I would be unable to provide a full length review for this book.
I think people with a more broadminded approach to their stories than me will better appreciate the book.

There are two stories along with a narrative to be found in “Grand Hotel Europa” by Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer. One of the stories is fascinating in its portrayal of changing cultures, the other story is a somewhat interesting view of a relationship growing and falling apart. The narrative, however, keeps lecturing you in case you weren’t smart enough to pick up the point of the two stories.

The main story is about an author (with the same name as this author) checking into a grand European hotel to write his novel about his failed relationship with Clio. The hotel and its characters are both the last remnants of an old aristocratic Europe that’s fading away, from Mr. Montebello, the ancient maître d’hotel whose entire life is tied up in the institution, to the mysterious ex-owner who remains hidden throughout most of the book, to the guests who represent a cross-section of Europe’s elite. Changes are afoot at the hotel, however, as the new (Chinese) owners are looking to remake the hotel to cater to what the new Chinese tourists perceive Europe to be. We are also introduced to Abdul, an African refugee who slowly tells the author his story of making his way to the Grand Hotel Europa, representing the new wave of immigrants.

The second story is a reminiscence of the author’s relationship with Clio, how they met in Genoa, moved to Venice, and eventually broke up. Since Clio is an art historian, the couple spend many days looking for a lost Caravaggio painting, a trek that in many ways is the core of their relationship. We also have some “serious” independent filmmakers who want to use the author in their story about tourism, a film that never really takes off, but allows us to look at tourism with a cynical eye.

And finally we have the narrative, which can be summed up as mass tourism is bad, change is needed. The author keeps hitting us over the head with lectures about the evils of mass tourism, about the changes being made to accommodate what the tourists want to see, from villages in the Netherlands to the Grand Hotel Europa itself. The topic is a relevant one and is clearly shown in the stories, there is no need to lecture to the reader. We also get lectured on how Europe is so busy choking on its past that it has no vision for the future, a clear point being the current fate of Venice, which is viewed as a Disneyland of beauty and history. As an additional series of “conversations”, we also learn far more about art history than is really necessary to enjoy the hunt for the lost Caravaggio.

Is this book overly long? Probably, but this is what you should expect in a novel that covers these topics. Are the lectures condescending? Yes, some of them are, the author should have more faith in the readers. Should you invest the time? Yes, in the end it’s an enjoyable snapshot of what’s happening as we try to deal with preserving the past while still being relevant in the future.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Farrar, Straus and Giroux via NetGalley. Thank you!

This book is ok. It is an ok story with ok writing and an ok storyline. I enjoyed my time reading it but would not necessarily recommend it and would not reread it.

After the failure of his relationship, Ilja, a writer, takes up residence in the Grand Hotel Europa. This grand dame used to be a glamorous venue, but her bright sheen has faded and all that’s left is a glint of desperation. Fortunately, the hotel’s permanent residents are a group of interesting characters and Ilja’s conversations with Abdul, the bell-hop, a Greek philosopher and an elusive poet provide ample distraction.

But this isn’t only the story of a fading relationship and a fading hotel, it’s also the story of a fading continent threatening to be destroyed by mass-tourism.

Full review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/18/grand-hotel-europa-ilja-leonard-pfeijffer/

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this one because the title sounds similar to one of Wes Anderson's movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel. I expect to found the same thing from that movie, but through this book, I got more than that, better even! and it's very cool and amazing thing!

I'd like to divide this book into four sections that build the whole story inside:

1. The story of Ilja and Clio–from their fated meeting to their relationship dynamics, and their little game of finding Caravaggio's last painting (which include many interesting art history and theory about it which I found so cool).
2. Ilja's project of film documentary and book about mass tourism discourse. (I found this topic very interesting, moreover it's not only covered up mass tourism in Europe–though it's the main focus, but also discussing some mass tourism in other continent too, like Asia. I'm from Asia myself, so it's interesting to see a European's point of view about my country and continent).
3. The discourse of European's identity, from the history of Europe in general and trivial fact that's deliberately elaborate some regions of Europe, the art history, economics, and where it's headed in 21st century as well as the issue of immigrants, works, and tourism. These information are kind of new to me, so I found it's very interesting and amusing.
4. The story of Grand Europa Hotel itself–along with its occupiers from the guests to hotel staff. It's heartwarming, alluring, and blows me away.

All of these 4 sections were written in a well proportions, a very well-written one indeed. I found this book is not easy to read in one seat for me–but it could be different for everyone else, or clicked right-away, but as long as the story goes, I can't put this one. This book has entertained, amused, and stimulated me with new information, knowledge, and sentiments of Europe in a very refreshing manner and I can't thank you (both Mr. Pfeijffer and Mrs. Hutchinson) enough for that. I'd like to give a shout out to the author and translator for their hard work on this amazing book!

I’m a sucker for books set in hotels (and boarding houses) and can easily rattle off some favourites, so when I saw Grand Hotel Europa from Dutch author, IIja Leonard Pfeijffer, I had high hopes. The book starts off strongly with a middle-aged Dutch writer checking into the Grand Hotel Europa located in an unspecified Italian city. It may have been grand at one time, but it’s seen better days. Long-term staff remain in place and there’s a new Chinese owner, Mr. Wang, who is eager to revitalize his investment. The writer, also named Ilja Pfeijffer is there, it seems to recover from a love affair. The stages of this love affair, which we know has failed, unroll as the writer recalls his relationship with art historian Clio. He met Clio in Genoa, and her introduction to the writer (and the reader) is a long strident, bitch session which, considering how privileged she is, made her an extremely annoying character to read about. Unfortunately, the writer falls in love. When Clio gets a job in Venice, which she announces shortly after they meet, the Dutch writer sees no alternative but to move to Venice to be with the woman he loves.


The staff and guests at the hotel are a diverse crew, and everyone seems to have an opinion: a North African Bellboy, Mr Montebello, the maître d’hotel, and a “militant feminist,” guest. Scenes in the hotel are amusing and surreal at times, and the writer notes that his room is loaded with objects:

objects that looked like they’d simply washed up in the suite–old books, a copper bell, a large ashtray in the shape of half a globe borne on the shoulders of Atlas, the skull of a mouse, various writing utensils, a monocle in a case, a stuffed barn owl, a cigar cutter, a compass, a Jews’ harp, a shadow puppet, a brass vase containing peacock feathers, a spray bottle and a wooden monk that turned out to be a nutcracker. It wasn’t clear whether they were intended as part of a decorative concept, or indeed of different, divergent ideas about furnishings that, over the course of time, had been half-heartedly implemented without anyone taking the trouble to remove the results of previous attempts; or whether they were things that had been forgotten by earlier travelers, after which the chambermaids–in the philosophical conviction that history, through the scattered and irreversible depositing of random sediments shaped the present–had refused to erase the traces.

The dated hotel and the weird guests evoke the idea of people, possibly dead people, waiting in the afterworld for whatever, if anything, is next. Many of the characters spout lectures or strong opinions, and the tone of the novel, rife with cultural observations and hard slams against mass tourism, can bludgeon at times.

There are some sex scenes which are rather crude and coarse. I’m not a prude, and I’m not a writer. Sex scenes unless it’s that sort of book frequently seem gratuitous or even boring. Here they were tasteless. The book has a lot of energy and there are some funny sections relating to the indefatigable demands of the tourist and mass tourism, but reading it was wearying at times.

Translated by Michele Hutchinson

I tried. I gave up. I know this has received rave reviews but it just wasn't for me. The sentences, the sentence structure. the metaphors, all of it was overwhelming and not in a good way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction with more patience.

This book was so beautifully written in parts, but at times I could just not get past the length of the sentences! Sometimes they would go on for multiple lines and I'd find myself forgetting the start of the sentence by the end, and so having to read it again. I love this premise of a book about memories and recounting a life well lived, but the execution sadly didn't quite live up to my expectations.

In keeping with the characters, the language here is bloated and excessive. And, although it may fit the narrative, it makes for unenjoyable reading. Added to the slow pacing, I did not finish this one.

I want to thank Netgalley and FSG Books for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate it so much.

When I read the plot of this book I thought it was such a great premise. Sadly, Pfeijffer´s writing was not of my liking. It felt too cold and dry, maybe in synch with the book´s general tone? But it definitely felt like too much. The book´s lenght (too long!), the metaphors and the -plot- all of it, was a lot to process. Maybe 200 pages less would have worked better for me. And not because I do not appreciate complex stories or characters, but because these two characteristics aren´t necessarily linked with the amount of metaphors and history rambling that you can stuff into a story. Or the amount of pages that you write! And this is what the author kept on doing. On a brighter note: I am actually glad I read this book as I am always trying to read books from different authors around the globe, and if you feel curious enough to get into this novel... please do so!

Grand Hotel Europa By Ilja Leonard Pfeijefer
This was an interesting book. Ilja Leonard Pfeijefer has written a novel that appears to be based much upon his own recent life. Memories, a topic he seems to have difficulty accepting as not just thinking of the past but also can be a step toward the future. The Grand Hotel Europa has been frozen in the past but has been purchased by a Chinese person who wants to spend money to bring it up to a state of fanciful view of the past. Ilja seems to be a very lucky character as although he is a big burly man and he falls in love with Clio who comes from a wealthy old family in Venice. Old means her mother has a title and their home is filled with paintings, silver and furniture as good as any in the best museum. Again, frozen in the past. Everyone and everything in this part of Italy seems to be frozen in this past. It is a book to make you think. As he suggests it is his job to pose a couple of god questions, not to provide the answers. One last point he has used as a pick-up line. He suggests he should place an ad in the newspaper; “poet seeks nude model.” As an American the book is very European. In some ways this is good. If I find a fault it is thinking too much about f*%king and less about enjoying it. Get past that and it is a good read, questions and humor abound.

DNF at 15% - might come back later when I have the mood again.

The author is very ambitious to stuff all the metaphors into one book. Some are ok, but some don't seem to work well for me. The writing is also a bit dry and would really need some patience to move forward.

I suppose I should disclose my epistemological stance first. I am reviewing this book from an American/Western perspective. I also hold a millennial and feminist perspective, both of which shape my preferences for literature. I also have a PhD in education which further contributes to my reading interests. I feel that context is important for this review.

I want to appreciate the literary metaphors the author is creating between Europe and the Hotel Europa. I think the premise of this behemoth of a novel is interesting. If done well, it would make for an excellent reading assignment for a college level course. However I do not feel that this book lives up to what it set out to be. It reads as incredibly pretentious and almost talks down to the reader at times. The narration drones on and on about the most insubstantial components and the dialogue is off-putting and does not seem natural, but this may be due to the translation from it's original Dutch, so I can overlook that particular aspect.

However, I truly struggle to care about most of the "lessons" from this book. If you want to critique tourism, critique the white saviorism of missionary work. Critique the damage that white/European tourism does to African culture and how for some developing nations, wealthy countries have made them virtually dependent on the tourism that also threatens their ways of life. I have very little interest or sympathy for the "decline of European culture". I appreciate history, but I don't think we need to cling quite so obsessively to it that we feel threatened by integrating new perspectives.

Overall, in my perspective, the author and the novel came off as pompous, overbearing, and lacking humility and compassion. I do want to recognize that I am most likely not the intended reader for this and while I love travel and history, this book was a miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I am very happy to see this is being translated into English. I found it a highly enjoyable, well-written, allegorical novel set mostly in Italy. It is about mass tourism, Europe as museum of the world, the past glory of European art and culture and the decline of Europe as a global power at the expense of Asia.

Did I learn a lot? Not really to be honest. Did I have fun reading? Yes, a lot!

Some reviewers have taken offense with the main character (who coincidentally carries the same improbable name as the author) being sexist. I agree that he his horribly old-fashioned, but that is precisely the idea: he is a classicist that stands for the old Europe, he is the embodiment of the self-satisfied, fat, white European male. So he makes fun of himself and I would not get too worked up about his outdated views of women.

The book contains quite a few digressions, especially on tourism, that were often smug and not really that interesting or original either - that is the only reasons I settle on 4 instead of 5 stars.