Leaving Small's Hotel is really fifty stories Peter Leroy reads to his hotel guests (one per night) leading up to his fiftieth birthday. These stories are supposed to be his memoirs but true to Leroy fashion they are a mix of the truth and imagination; how things were and how Leroy thought they could have, or should have been. The guests, who Leroy calls "inmates," love them. The subplot for Leaving Small's Hotel is the state of disrepair and debt Small's Hotel is in. Peter and his wife, Albertine, are losing money on a daily basis on the money pit. The roof leaks, the boiler keeps breaking, the washing machines shred clothes in addition to cleaning them. They can't catch a break and even when they decide to sell they can't find a suitable buyer.
Be prepared if you are reading Kraft's books sequentially - there are a few reoccurring themes: clamming, the threat of nuclear war, aliens, and inventions. Oh, and sex with older women. ( )