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Nothing to See Here Hotel #1
The Nothing to See Here Hotel
'Hilariously funny and inventive, and I love the extraordinary creatures and the one thirty-sixth troll protagonist...' Cressida Cowell
'A rip-roaring, swashbuckling, amazerous magical adventure. Comedy Gold.' Francesca Simon
‘This hotel gets five stars from me’ Liz Pichon
'A splundishly swashbungling tale of trolls, goblins and other bonejangling creatures. Put on your wellies and plunge into the strangest hotel you will ever encounter. This is a hotel I hope I never find! Wonderfully, disgustingly funny.' Jeremy Strong
‘What a fun hotel! Book me in immediately!’ Kaye Umansky
Welcome to The Nothing to See Here Hotel! A hotel for magical creatures, where weird is normal for Frankie Banister and his parents who run the hotel.
When a goblin messenger arrives at The Nothing to See Here Hotel, announcing the imminent arrival of the goblin prince Grogbah, Frankie and his family rush into action to get ready for their important guest. But it soon becomes obvious that the Banister family are going to have their work cut out with the demanding prince and his never-ending entourage, especially when it turns out the rude little prince is hiding a secret...
The first book in a fabulously funny series by bestselling author Steven Butler, with a host of whacky characters brought to life with illustration from the wonderful Steven Lenton!
'A rip-roaring, swashbuckling, amazerous magical adventure. Comedy Gold.' Francesca Simon
‘This hotel gets five stars from me’ Liz Pichon
'A splundishly swashbungling tale of trolls, goblins and other bonejangling creatures. Put on your wellies and plunge into the strangest hotel you will ever encounter. This is a hotel I hope I never find! Wonderfully, disgustingly funny.' Jeremy Strong
‘What a fun hotel! Book me in immediately!’ Kaye Umansky
Welcome to The Nothing to See Here Hotel! A hotel for magical creatures, where weird is normal for Frankie Banister and his parents who run the hotel.
When a goblin messenger arrives at The Nothing to See Here Hotel, announcing the imminent arrival of the goblin prince Grogbah, Frankie and his family rush into action to get ready for their important guest. But it soon becomes obvious that the Banister family are going to have their work cut out with the demanding prince and his never-ending entourage, especially when it turns out the rude little prince is hiding a secret...
The first book in a fabulously funny series by bestselling author Steven Butler, with a host of whacky characters brought to life with illustration from the wonderful Steven Lenton!
188 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 2018
53 people are currently reading
591 people want to read
About the author
Steven Butler
132 books40 followersSteven is the award-winning author of the Nothing To See Here Hotel series (winner of the Sainsbury's Fiction Prize; shortlisted for the Laugh-Out-Loud "Lollies" award and Alligator's Mouth award; featured on W.H Smith's Tom Fletcher Bookclub), The Wrong Pong series (shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize), his new adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey for Hachette's Awesomely Austen series, and his comedy collaboration with American author, James Patterson, the Dog Diaries series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
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April 5, 2018I had such mixed feelings about this book that I couldn't settle on a star rating, but my kids loved it so much that I felt like I ought to review it here anyway and present both sides.
First, the genuinely really good: this book is fast-paced and extremely funny, with fabulous use of language (the made-up words all work so well and give such a great sense of fun!), and it's full of wonderful, hugely imaginative touches in all the details about the hotel and most of its guests. Goblin pirates! The Molar Sisters (three tooth fairies)! The hero's terrifying troll grandma! And so much more. My kids ate it all up, demanded that I read the entire 200-page book to them both in one long sitting, and wanted to get the next book immediately.
Despite a couple of small logic issues I had with the plot (spots where I felt like the author & editor hadn't thought through exactly how all of those cool hotel/magic details would really work together, so things didn't quite line up for me), I was absolutely loving the book too, up until the arrival of the much-anticipated goblin prince.
Unfortunately, way back in the 1990s I remember already being really sick of the tradition in high-fantasy novels of making the bad guys' cultures direct analogues of (clichéd Western perceptions of) Middle Eastern societies...and that's what this book (published in 2018, by which I'd really hoped it wouldn't happen anymore) does in spades.
The wicked Prince Grogbah (the villain of the story) and his entire retinue could have come straight out of the old musical "Kismet" in the absolutely unselfconscious Orientalism of their portrayal. No religion is ever named or included, but the spoiled and overweight Grogbah arrives wearing a large turban (drawn by the illustrator in a very recognizable style) and following the exotic parade of his enormous retinue, which includes his many lazy wives and all of his slaves including his attractive female goblin belly-dancers (among whom the hero's Anglo-Indian human mum is forced to dance in her own skimpy costume to please Grogbah)...
...and I just felt really uncomfortable, personally, about the whole thing. For me, the only way it could have possibly worked would have been if the author had subverted that stereotypical portrayal in some way to make it really distinct as a culture of its own. Make the belly dancers male? Give Grogbah husbands instead of wives, or make the wicked prince a wicked princess? Make another competing prince or princess from his own society the hero who sweeps in at the end to help? I don't honestly know if any of those would have helped or what would have worked, exactly. But what I can say is that this completely unthinking use of those old Orientalist stereotypes didn't work for me, as a reader.
However, circling back to the real positives in this book, I do have to reiterate to be fair: both my 4-year-old and my 9-year-old were 100% gripped and entertained for 200 pages without a break by this book, and there was so much great stuff in the language and humor of it all, apart from the whole Grogbah portrayal. (I would have loved this book entirely if it had just been about all the fabulous inhabitants of the hotel and Grogbah had never arrived!) So, it's a real mix.
First, the genuinely really good: this book is fast-paced and extremely funny, with fabulous use of language (the made-up words all work so well and give such a great sense of fun!), and it's full of wonderful, hugely imaginative touches in all the details about the hotel and most of its guests. Goblin pirates! The Molar Sisters (three tooth fairies)! The hero's terrifying troll grandma! And so much more. My kids ate it all up, demanded that I read the entire 200-page book to them both in one long sitting, and wanted to get the next book immediately.
Despite a couple of small logic issues I had with the plot (spots where I felt like the author & editor hadn't thought through exactly how all of those cool hotel/magic details would really work together, so things didn't quite line up for me), I was absolutely loving the book too, up until the arrival of the much-anticipated goblin prince.
Unfortunately, way back in the 1990s I remember already being really sick of the tradition in high-fantasy novels of making the bad guys' cultures direct analogues of (clichéd Western perceptions of) Middle Eastern societies...and that's what this book (published in 2018, by which I'd really hoped it wouldn't happen anymore) does in spades.
The wicked Prince Grogbah (the villain of the story) and his entire retinue could have come straight out of the old musical "Kismet" in the absolutely unselfconscious Orientalism of their portrayal. No religion is ever named or included, but the spoiled and overweight Grogbah arrives wearing a large turban (drawn by the illustrator in a very recognizable style) and following the exotic parade of his enormous retinue, which includes his many lazy wives and all of his slaves including his attractive female goblin belly-dancers (among whom the hero's Anglo-Indian human mum is forced to dance in her own skimpy costume to please Grogbah)...
...and I just felt really uncomfortable, personally, about the whole thing. For me, the only way it could have possibly worked would have been if the author had subverted that stereotypical portrayal in some way to make it really distinct as a culture of its own. Make the belly dancers male? Give Grogbah husbands instead of wives, or make the wicked prince a wicked princess? Make another competing prince or princess from his own society the hero who sweeps in at the end to help? I don't honestly know if any of those would have helped or what would have worked, exactly. But what I can say is that this completely unthinking use of those old Orientalist stereotypes didn't work for me, as a reader.
However, circling back to the real positives in this book, I do have to reiterate to be fair: both my 4-year-old and my 9-year-old were 100% gripped and entertained for 200 pages without a break by this book, and there was so much great stuff in the language and humor of it all, apart from the whole Grogbah portrayal. (I would have loved this book entirely if it had just been about all the fabulous inhabitants of the hotel and Grogbah had never arrived!) So, it's a real mix.
August 6, 2018
2.5 Stars. What bonkers fun this was! I read this in just one day, ripping through it and snickering away to myself on the train.
Frankie lives in the Nothing to See Here Hotel on the edge of Brighton with his parents, but it's not your average hotel, not by far. The guests are mostly monsters, magical creatures, ghosts, and all manner of unusual entities. When a goblin messenger arrives in the middle of a storm to announce the imminent arrival of a demanding goblin prince, the hotel's sent into desperate preparations. But the prince is a horrible pest who takes over and begins causing trouble almost as soon as he arrives.
This book is insane fun. It's packed full of creative and never-before-seen magical creatures, as well as hilarious twists on the more traditional kinds. Butler's got a knack for creating made-up words that reminded me a lot of good old Roald Dahl and his Gobblefunk, and I could imagine this book being fantastically hilarious when read aloud in a classroom. The plot's fast-paced and engaging, and also includes pirates, troll-grandmothers, and the possibility of many more adventures at the hotel. Frankie's a fun protagonist, his narration coming across almost like a diary or a conversation, casually updating the reader on the crazy events taking place around him as if they are all totally normal every-day occurrences. I'd have liked for him to have been more directly involved in the events at the hotel himself, as he was often mostly a spectator to the madness, but in such a short and crazy book, that's something I hope will happen in future books.
What really let this book down for me, though, was the problematic racial stereotyping of the horrible goblin king and his entourage. It's especially uncomfortable considering the coded racial identities of Frankie and his mum, Rani, who witnessed and were even forced to participate in humiliating scenes for this ridiculous king's pleasure, without any acknowledgment of how degrading it was to their culture. The goblin king, even in the illustrations, is dressed in a large turban, his many slaves in stylised Indian dress. There's belly-dancing goblins and lots of stereotyped cultural references without any sense of respect or reason why they're included. It's never said whether the goblins are genuinely from Asia, or whether they were simply using those clothes as a disguise, but either way it made me feel very uncomfortable and reminded me a lot of harmful old fantasy tropes that I really hoped weren't still being published in 2018, especially in children's books. It's such a shame because it was so unnecessary, and this book would have been fantastic without those stereotypes.
Frankie lives in the Nothing to See Here Hotel on the edge of Brighton with his parents, but it's not your average hotel, not by far. The guests are mostly monsters, magical creatures, ghosts, and all manner of unusual entities. When a goblin messenger arrives in the middle of a storm to announce the imminent arrival of a demanding goblin prince, the hotel's sent into desperate preparations. But the prince is a horrible pest who takes over and begins causing trouble almost as soon as he arrives.
This book is insane fun. It's packed full of creative and never-before-seen magical creatures, as well as hilarious twists on the more traditional kinds. Butler's got a knack for creating made-up words that reminded me a lot of good old Roald Dahl and his Gobblefunk, and I could imagine this book being fantastically hilarious when read aloud in a classroom. The plot's fast-paced and engaging, and also includes pirates, troll-grandmothers, and the possibility of many more adventures at the hotel. Frankie's a fun protagonist, his narration coming across almost like a diary or a conversation, casually updating the reader on the crazy events taking place around him as if they are all totally normal every-day occurrences. I'd have liked for him to have been more directly involved in the events at the hotel himself, as he was often mostly a spectator to the madness, but in such a short and crazy book, that's something I hope will happen in future books.
What really let this book down for me, though, was the problematic racial stereotyping of the horrible goblin king and his entourage. It's especially uncomfortable considering the coded racial identities of Frankie and his mum, Rani, who witnessed and were even forced to participate in humiliating scenes for this ridiculous king's pleasure, without any acknowledgment of how degrading it was to their culture. The goblin king, even in the illustrations, is dressed in a large turban, his many slaves in stylised Indian dress. There's belly-dancing goblins and lots of stereotyped cultural references without any sense of respect or reason why they're included. It's never said whether the goblins are genuinely from Asia, or whether they were simply using those clothes as a disguise, but either way it made me feel very uncomfortable and reminded me a lot of harmful old fantasy tropes that I really hoped weren't still being published in 2018, especially in children's books. It's such a shame because it was so unnecessary, and this book would have been fantastic without those stereotypes.
March 25, 2021
A fun and fast paced hilarious magical story about a hotel for mythical beings, beside the sea in Brighton.
I really enjoyed the fun and outrageous characters in this story.
The only reason it doesn't get the full five stars is there is a minor part of fat shaming, and I think it's unnecessary.
But if you can ignore that small mention, then you will enjoy the madness that is The Nothing To See Here Hotel.
I really enjoyed the fun and outrageous characters in this story.
The only reason it doesn't get the full five stars is there is a minor part of fat shaming, and I think it's unnecessary.
But if you can ignore that small mention, then you will enjoy the madness that is The Nothing To See Here Hotel.
March 19, 2018
5 stars to this fabulous hotel. Boy, my visit sure was eventful! I saw goblins (even a prince!), tooth fairies, a moving lawn, there was an epic battle between goblins and pirates! Did I mention the strange but interesting foods? Oh my, I want to book another room for a holiday soon. I am sure my next visit will just be as eventful as this one. It seems that this hotel doesn't have any quiet days. And that is just what I need on my vacation, excitement!
So I was definitely looking forward to reading this book. The cover looked fabulous, the story sounded interesting. And after reading it I can say it was all it promised me and more!
Our MC is Frankie, a little guy who isn't quite human, in fact he is one thirty-sixth troll! And we don't know what else is running in the family, as there are a lot of different creatures making up his family line. Trolls, nymphs, harpies and more! His grandma is a troll, a real angry/always pissed off troll.
His family runs a hotel, The Nothing To See Here Hotel. It is located near the sea at a pretty nice location, though don't think that humans will be able to enter, oh no. There are all sorts of measures to make sure no human strays in the hotel. Magical ones, but also the parents writing up all sorts of bad reviews. :P Yep, this hotel is only for supernatural beings! And the hotel looks fabulous, I would love to live there. There is a library for instance, but I also love Frankie's secret room. Can I have that one, I would love a secret room, and then one located above a library.
One day our lovely hotel gets a message, there is a prince on his way to the hotel! Chaos ensues, and I was eager to see the prince. But I quickly got a strange feeling that this prince is not what it seems. And I was right! He turned out to be quite the terrible person. And not only because of his attitude (I wonder why anyone stays with him, I would have run away pretty hard if I had the chance), but also something else that was revealed a bit later on.
If you think that goblins are WOW, then wait until the moment the pirates shoot cannonballs and barge into the hotel. Yep, magical waves will bring boats right to your doorstep. :P
And thus a battle begins, a battle that will go through the whole hotel and even outside of it (making two green monsters not happy).
I loved seeing all the various supernatural beings that visited the place. Like the tooth fairies (who knew their dental hygiene is terrible?), a lawn that is alive (that sure is treacherous), trolls (that grandma sure is scary as heck), and so many other creatures.
Well I could go on and on about this book for a while, I just enjoyed my stay so much. I just want to comment on the fabulous illustrations by Steven Lenton. His art style fits this story perfectly and he brings the characters to life.
I hope that there will be many more books in this series, as I said in the beginning, I want to have another stay at this hotel and see what fun events will happen then! I would highly recommend this terrific fun book to everyone.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
So I was definitely looking forward to reading this book. The cover looked fabulous, the story sounded interesting. And after reading it I can say it was all it promised me and more!
Our MC is Frankie, a little guy who isn't quite human, in fact he is one thirty-sixth troll! And we don't know what else is running in the family, as there are a lot of different creatures making up his family line. Trolls, nymphs, harpies and more! His grandma is a troll, a real angry/always pissed off troll.
His family runs a hotel, The Nothing To See Here Hotel. It is located near the sea at a pretty nice location, though don't think that humans will be able to enter, oh no. There are all sorts of measures to make sure no human strays in the hotel. Magical ones, but also the parents writing up all sorts of bad reviews. :P Yep, this hotel is only for supernatural beings! And the hotel looks fabulous, I would love to live there. There is a library for instance, but I also love Frankie's secret room. Can I have that one, I would love a secret room, and then one located above a library.
One day our lovely hotel gets a message, there is a prince on his way to the hotel! Chaos ensues, and I was eager to see the prince. But I quickly got a strange feeling that this prince is not what it seems. And I was right! He turned out to be quite the terrible person. And not only because of his attitude (I wonder why anyone stays with him, I would have run away pretty hard if I had the chance), but also something else that was revealed a bit later on.
If you think that goblins are WOW, then wait until the moment the pirates shoot cannonballs and barge into the hotel. Yep, magical waves will bring boats right to your doorstep. :P
And thus a battle begins, a battle that will go through the whole hotel and even outside of it (making two green monsters not happy).
I loved seeing all the various supernatural beings that visited the place. Like the tooth fairies (who knew their dental hygiene is terrible?), a lawn that is alive (that sure is treacherous), trolls (that grandma sure is scary as heck), and so many other creatures.
Well I could go on and on about this book for a while, I just enjoyed my stay so much. I just want to comment on the fabulous illustrations by Steven Lenton. His art style fits this story perfectly and he brings the characters to life.
I hope that there will be many more books in this series, as I said in the beginning, I want to have another stay at this hotel and see what fun events will happen then! I would highly recommend this terrific fun book to everyone.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
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May 23, 2018Very funny and imaginative and I’m sure many kids will like this but the orientalist of the goblins is quite apparent and made me a little uncomfortable. Another reviewer has noted this in detail, I’ve noticed.
June 5, 2018
That book was absolutely ADORABLE! I honestly can't wait to reread it :D
It reminded me so much of Hotel Transylvania so if you loved the movie, then definitely give the a book a go!
I had so much reading it :)
It reminded me so much of Hotel Transylvania so if you loved the movie, then definitely give the a book a go!
I had so much reading it :)
nope
May 24, 2018Nope nope nopity nope.
March 18, 2025
My kids were obsessed with this book and I would highly recommend to any teacher in those middle to younger years levels! The characters are simply hilarious and the plot had every one of my children instantly hooked. On to the second of the series!
March 1, 2020
3,5-4/5
Storms, and messengers, and ravens, and parties, and exploding boulders, and parades, and skinny-dipping, and plagues of hermit crabs, and criminals, and diamonds, and pirates, and heroes, and skeletons, and curses, and battles, and fireballs, and the odd person getting gobbled up are all just regular stuff for the Banister family.
Here where weird is the new normal...
Still fancy coming to stay?
YES!
Really fun read with beautiful drawings (although stop it with the boobs, Lenton, really), with the downside of the goblin prince looking and acting like the (stereotypical) princes from (Ancient) Asia. Another review goes into it in depth, and I agree that it could have been handled better.
The rest of it was so fun, though, and the made up words were the best. I can’t wait to read the sequels tomorrow, and hope there’ll be no problematic stuff in those.
Storms, and messengers, and ravens, and parties, and exploding boulders, and parades, and skinny-dipping, and plagues of hermit crabs, and criminals, and diamonds, and pirates, and heroes, and skeletons, and curses, and battles, and fireballs, and the odd person getting gobbled up are all just regular stuff for the Banister family.
Here where weird is the new normal...
Still fancy coming to stay?
YES!
Really fun read with beautiful drawings (although stop it with the boobs, Lenton, really), with the downside of the goblin prince looking and acting like the (stereotypical) princes from (Ancient) Asia. Another review goes into it in depth, and I agree that it could have been handled better.
The rest of it was so fun, though, and the made up words were the best. I can’t wait to read the sequels tomorrow, and hope there’ll be no problematic stuff in those.
February 19, 2022
I went into this from a recommendation for a read aloud, and I think this would go down well with year 3/4s, or an escape and bit of fun for year 5/6s. Good old disgusting humour and spoilt rudeness that will appeal to this audience. I can’t unread the review which wonders why the villains need to be turban wearing - Honestly I hadn’t thought of it as I read it because to me these were clearly fantastical goblins and magical creatures. I’ll be asking one of my year 3/4 teachers to give it a go, and will be buying the next in the series.
January 24, 2020
This is one of the weirdest books I have ever read (in a good way though)
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January 27, 2020Definitely meant for the younger side of middle grade.
April 22, 2020
It was ok, I'm just not a big fan of books where the main character talks to the readers.
October 26, 2024
داستان جالبی داشت و کمدی فانتزی بود. مصور هم بود و فک کنم برای بچهها خیلی جذاب باشه همراه با خوندن، شخصبتها رو هم ببینن. ترجمهی این کتاب جالب رو میتونین از نشر پاپلی مطالعه کنین😍
December 6, 2024
This was such an imaginative story with some great characters
This was a quick, lighthearted read for me and I'm sure younger readers would enjoy it too
This was a quick, lighthearted read for me and I'm sure younger readers would enjoy it too
January 9, 2025
This was almost a DNF for me, but I super-skimmed the last 50% just to see how it ended.
Looked very promising, with illustrations throughout, and different fonts (which can work very well), but aside from some amusing invented vocabulary (ranciderous, hunksome), this story was both boring and confusing to me.
And OK, I'm an unimaginative grown up, but compared to something like the "Mr Gum" (Andy Stanton) books, this totally missed the mark.
Looked very promising, with illustrations throughout, and different fonts (which can work very well), but aside from some amusing invented vocabulary (ranciderous, hunksome), this story was both boring and confusing to me.
And OK, I'm an unimaginative grown up, but compared to something like the "Mr Gum" (Andy Stanton) books, this totally missed the mark.
February 23, 2018
Lots of fun, brilliantly creative characters and some laugh out loud moments! Definitely one for the school library!
June 13, 2024
2.5⭐️⭐️
I loved the illustrations, the story was meh.
I loved the illustrations, the story was meh.
August 19, 2022
Lila absolutely loved this book. We’ve already picked the second one up from the library. She loves the Molar Sisters and has already started planning her world book day outfit around them. It’s action packed with some great moments of narrative voice. I think she particularly enjoyed when Frankie would directly address the reader.
For my part, this was a mixed bag. I loved the characters in the hotel, loved the set up of the hotel in Brighton, loved Tempestra. But the ‘villain’ of Grogbah was concerningly portrayed as ‘Oriental Other’ with his wives, plural, turban, and belly dancing entourage. I also really hate a children’s book that constantly makes reference to weight as a descriptor. Grogbah was a selfish, rude little goblin, but constantly calling him chunky, chubby, round etc was just really frustrating. Lila is being raised in a house that simply doesn’t focus on weight ever, ‘fat’ is not an offensive word in this house, so it’s particularly difficult and confusing when children’s books portray their villains as overweight as a sign of evilness. It’s 2022, do better.
For my part, this was a mixed bag. I loved the characters in the hotel, loved the set up of the hotel in Brighton, loved Tempestra. But the ‘villain’ of Grogbah was concerningly portrayed as ‘Oriental Other’ with his wives, plural, turban, and belly dancing entourage. I also really hate a children’s book that constantly makes reference to weight as a descriptor. Grogbah was a selfish, rude little goblin, but constantly calling him chunky, chubby, round etc was just really frustrating. Lila is being raised in a house that simply doesn’t focus on weight ever, ‘fat’ is not an offensive word in this house, so it’s particularly difficult and confusing when children’s books portray their villains as overweight as a sign of evilness. It’s 2022, do better.
September 26, 2020
From Steven Butler and Steven Lenton comes the first in a new series of books. Welcome to The Nothing to See Here Hotel, it’s not your typical holiday destination and you won’t find anything normal here. There are strange goings-on, unusual hosts, even stranger guests and a grumpy granny who sits up high over-seeing it all…
The Nothing to See Here Hotel sits proudly on Brighton beachfront, although you wouldn’t notice it as it’s hidden from the view of ordinary folk by an assortment of magical charms. Frankie Bannister and his parents run the hotel which provides a secret getaway for magical creatures. Frankie is thrilled when a Goblin messenger on board a raven arrives at the hotel with a very important message. Only brilliant things arrive by Goblin post and Frankie is hopeful of a magical treasure chest or a dragon’s egg. What he gets is the news that Prince Grogbah is arriving at the hotel tomorrow.
With the royal visitor’s arrival a mere twenty-four hours away the hotel staff set to work preparing food, pouring frog grog, landscaping the gardens and decorating the interior. When the Prince arrives his behaviour is anything but princely and he is a demanding nasty little snot bag. The little Prince is out of control and his behaviour is threatening the secrecy of the hotel. But the hotel is not the only one with a secret and the truth about the Prince is soon to be revealed…
This is wacky, fun and full of imagination about the crazy events that take place at the most unique of hotels. The hotel is the best kind of hotel for the strange and eclectic mix of colourful characters that live and holiday inside it - it is disgusting, stinky and revolting!
The black and white illustrations are brilliant fun and it is great to have the characters brought to life. The many wonderful locations in the hotel are set out in a fabulous double page illustration and I hope that more of these locations are explored in greater detail in future books.
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is all kinds of fun and will have readers keenly seeking out the other books in the series. So, pack your bags and head to The Nothing to See Here Hotel, where drama, fun and gross laughs are guaranteed.
Recommended for 7+.
The Nothing to See Here Hotel sits proudly on Brighton beachfront, although you wouldn’t notice it as it’s hidden from the view of ordinary folk by an assortment of magical charms. Frankie Bannister and his parents run the hotel which provides a secret getaway for magical creatures. Frankie is thrilled when a Goblin messenger on board a raven arrives at the hotel with a very important message. Only brilliant things arrive by Goblin post and Frankie is hopeful of a magical treasure chest or a dragon’s egg. What he gets is the news that Prince Grogbah is arriving at the hotel tomorrow.
With the royal visitor’s arrival a mere twenty-four hours away the hotel staff set to work preparing food, pouring frog grog, landscaping the gardens and decorating the interior. When the Prince arrives his behaviour is anything but princely and he is a demanding nasty little snot bag. The little Prince is out of control and his behaviour is threatening the secrecy of the hotel. But the hotel is not the only one with a secret and the truth about the Prince is soon to be revealed…
This is wacky, fun and full of imagination about the crazy events that take place at the most unique of hotels. The hotel is the best kind of hotel for the strange and eclectic mix of colourful characters that live and holiday inside it - it is disgusting, stinky and revolting!
The black and white illustrations are brilliant fun and it is great to have the characters brought to life. The many wonderful locations in the hotel are set out in a fabulous double page illustration and I hope that more of these locations are explored in greater detail in future books.
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is all kinds of fun and will have readers keenly seeking out the other books in the series. So, pack your bags and head to The Nothing to See Here Hotel, where drama, fun and gross laughs are guaranteed.
Recommended for 7+.
April 19, 2020
WOW! This has to be the most high octane chapter book I have ever read. Packed with magical creatures and non-stop action, I read this book in a single sitting and came away breathless.
Frankie Banister and his family are from troll descent. Now they run a hotel for all kinds of magical creatures. With a terrifying grandmother in the attic, a scatty spider cook, a gardener married to a Venus Fly Trap and guests ranging from mermaids to tooth fairies, Frankie is kept incredibly busy. But when Prince Grobah from the 'dark and dooky deep' announces his arrival, the hotel descends into total chaos. Overrun by greedy goblins, Frankie and his parents have no chance of maintaining control. That is, until the goblin pirates arrive and battle commences...
The imagination and fast-pace of this story blew me away. Whereas Hotel Flamingo provides a rather more chilled getaway, this is a hurricane of a holiday. There is no down time or lull in the plot. Instead, expect page after page of high-action adventure bursting with characters so zany, they'll leave your head spinning. The story itself is funny, well-plotted and original. There were times when I felt I needed to catch my breath and that the main character, Frankie, felt more of a spectator than a participant in the story. The goblins of the 'dark and dooky deep' were rather condemned as a race and there possibly could have been more redemption here. However, the ending was spectacular, the ghost pirate was phenomenal and the moving lawn was genius. There is no doubt whatsoever that we will be reading the whole series in our house.
Frankie Banister and his family are from troll descent. Now they run a hotel for all kinds of magical creatures. With a terrifying grandmother in the attic, a scatty spider cook, a gardener married to a Venus Fly Trap and guests ranging from mermaids to tooth fairies, Frankie is kept incredibly busy. But when Prince Grobah from the 'dark and dooky deep' announces his arrival, the hotel descends into total chaos. Overrun by greedy goblins, Frankie and his parents have no chance of maintaining control. That is, until the goblin pirates arrive and battle commences...
The imagination and fast-pace of this story blew me away. Whereas Hotel Flamingo provides a rather more chilled getaway, this is a hurricane of a holiday. There is no down time or lull in the plot. Instead, expect page after page of high-action adventure bursting with characters so zany, they'll leave your head spinning. The story itself is funny, well-plotted and original. There were times when I felt I needed to catch my breath and that the main character, Frankie, felt more of a spectator than a participant in the story. The goblins of the 'dark and dooky deep' were rather condemned as a race and there possibly could have been more redemption here. However, the ending was spectacular, the ghost pirate was phenomenal and the moving lawn was genius. There is no doubt whatsoever that we will be reading the whole series in our house.
April 24, 2019
This story is inventive and hitting the comedy side of gross that children adore at that age and so is utterly perfect for fans of Andy Stanton's Mr Gum, Laura Ellen Anderson's Amelia Fang and Dahl.
This is a wildly creative story with Pygmy Soot dragons, were-poodles, Handy ogres, shrubbery sprites and much more. The full immersion in the world is exciting and very funny.
Though if you are offended by the idea of a goblin wearing a turban then this isn't the book for you. Granny Regurgita is all sorts of glorious in the joyous disgustingness of her creation, all sorts of horrors have melded into her being from Jabba the Hutt, with the demanding nastiness of the grandmother from George's Marvellous Medicine with a dash of the bedridden, floor banging hollerings of René's mother in law from Allo, Allo.
Frankie's world is fun and playful escapism and the plot meanders from the sublimely eccentric to the Monty Pythonesque bonkers in a hummingbird's heart beat. For us this is a delightfully funny series we would love to seek out more.
This is a wildly creative story with Pygmy Soot dragons, were-poodles, Handy ogres, shrubbery sprites and much more. The full immersion in the world is exciting and very funny.
Though if you are offended by the idea of a goblin wearing a turban then this isn't the book for you. Granny Regurgita is all sorts of glorious in the joyous disgustingness of her creation, all sorts of horrors have melded into her being from Jabba the Hutt, with the demanding nastiness of the grandmother from George's Marvellous Medicine with a dash of the bedridden, floor banging hollerings of René's mother in law from Allo, Allo.
Frankie's world is fun and playful escapism and the plot meanders from the sublimely eccentric to the Monty Pythonesque bonkers in a hummingbird's heart beat. For us this is a delightfully funny series we would love to seek out more.
April 26, 2020
‘My Granny is a troll.’ This sets up this fun story for young readers. It is an introduction to what you can see behind the most unexpected facades. Frankie’s family have run the Nothing to See Here Hotel for generations. It is the resort for unusual guests who may have problems with regular hotels.
A goblin messenger brings news that sets the hotel into panic — a royal visitor. Most of us would end up in a spin if the Queen was coming to visit — tomorrow. Chaos ensues as preparations are made for the royal visitor.
His royal highness arrives but is not the pleasant surprise the family were expecting. The Nothing to See Here Hotel is thrown into turmoil and risks being exposed to the rest of Brighton. The resort for magical creatures would be lost, Frankie would be homeless along with the rest of his family and bedlam would follow.
The changes in text type and the illustrations are engaging. A fun read for all.
I enjoyed the humour and unusual characters.
Recommended for 8+
A goblin messenger brings news that sets the hotel into panic — a royal visitor. Most of us would end up in a spin if the Queen was coming to visit — tomorrow. Chaos ensues as preparations are made for the royal visitor.
His royal highness arrives but is not the pleasant surprise the family were expecting. The Nothing to See Here Hotel is thrown into turmoil and risks being exposed to the rest of Brighton. The resort for magical creatures would be lost, Frankie would be homeless along with the rest of his family and bedlam would follow.
The changes in text type and the illustrations are engaging. A fun read for all.
I enjoyed the humour and unusual characters.
Recommended for 8+
September 29, 2019
Frankie Bannister is keen to tell you all about his family run hotel, and what happened one day.
Have you ever judged a motel by how it looks? Have you ever wondered what might be inside, or that it is SUPPOSED to make you drive away again?
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is just like that. The last thing they want is humans turning up and wanting to book in for a holiday. They even have a very nasty surprise on the front step if a human does try to enter.
This hotel is for Magical Creatures and Magical Creatures only. Behind the facade of the run-down unappealing entrance is a place of magic, mayhem and all things mystical. Secret rooms with special codes to enter, an ancient, grumpy trolless who lives in the dark with mushrooms exploding from her face, and the Molar Sisters - tooth fairies with terrible teeth! The back lawn is even alive and it is upset about all the ruckus being kicked up about a new guest.
This guest is a Goblin Prince - a special visitor that they must give their very best service. Frankie Bannister and his family do everything they can, but quickly realise this little grey tyrant will never be happy. They grin and bear it and run themselves ragged, until another guest arrives. Guest? No. More like a very angry pirate who has been on the Goblin Prince's trail for sometime.
This so-called-prince has done something awful, and the pirates want their revenge!
I loved the full-on, totally bonkers, crazy shenanigans that explode from almost every page. A real page-turner, laugh-out-loud escapade of monsters, made-up words that fit perfectly into the narrative and more in this series to come.
Have you ever judged a motel by how it looks? Have you ever wondered what might be inside, or that it is SUPPOSED to make you drive away again?
The Nothing to See Here Hotel is just like that. The last thing they want is humans turning up and wanting to book in for a holiday. They even have a very nasty surprise on the front step if a human does try to enter.
This hotel is for Magical Creatures and Magical Creatures only. Behind the facade of the run-down unappealing entrance is a place of magic, mayhem and all things mystical. Secret rooms with special codes to enter, an ancient, grumpy trolless who lives in the dark with mushrooms exploding from her face, and the Molar Sisters - tooth fairies with terrible teeth! The back lawn is even alive and it is upset about all the ruckus being kicked up about a new guest.
This guest is a Goblin Prince - a special visitor that they must give their very best service. Frankie Bannister and his family do everything they can, but quickly realise this little grey tyrant will never be happy. They grin and bear it and run themselves ragged, until another guest arrives. Guest? No. More like a very angry pirate who has been on the Goblin Prince's trail for sometime.
This so-called-prince has done something awful, and the pirates want their revenge!
I loved the full-on, totally bonkers, crazy shenanigans that explode from almost every page. A real page-turner, laugh-out-loud escapade of monsters, made-up words that fit perfectly into the narrative and more in this series to come.
May 2, 2025
Madcap other-worldly comic hotel capers.
4.5 stars
Every fantasy creature and a few more in this fast-paced book set in a hotel for creatures that can't be seen by human eyes.
Frankie is our tour guide, only part human himself, narrating with humour over the course of a few days where a Goblin prince and his retinue are coming to stay, turning the place on its head... almost literally.
So many characters I ran out of voices for them all! But my son listened attentively and enjoyed the quirky story, silly voices I threw together and the setting inside the hidden hotel. I felt a nostalgic pull for Fawlty Towers, which a squint and small rewrite could see this being inspired by.
Great fun, though its easy to forget who is who. Can imagine more fun escapades with the same crew as this progresses into a series.
For ages 7-12.
4.5 stars
Every fantasy creature and a few more in this fast-paced book set in a hotel for creatures that can't be seen by human eyes.
Frankie is our tour guide, only part human himself, narrating with humour over the course of a few days where a Goblin prince and his retinue are coming to stay, turning the place on its head... almost literally.
So many characters I ran out of voices for them all! But my son listened attentively and enjoyed the quirky story, silly voices I threw together and the setting inside the hidden hotel. I felt a nostalgic pull for Fawlty Towers, which a squint and small rewrite could see this being inspired by.
Great fun, though its easy to forget who is who. Can imagine more fun escapades with the same crew as this progresses into a series.
For ages 7-12.
February 21, 2018
I read this as my son lost interest and we were reviewing it for Toppsta.com. Its a magical book about a hotel that is mostly invisible to humans but fully visible to magical creatures/beings. In this book a troll prince comes to stay with them and has a bit of a story behind him. What follows is lots of action and humour as the staff and residents in the hotel interact with this troll.
As an adult I found the book funny. I can see why it would appeal to both boys and girls and I am sure the author could get a few more books out of this magical hotel.
As an adult I found the book funny. I can see why it would appeal to both boys and girls and I am sure the author could get a few more books out of this magical hotel.
June 5, 2020
A wild story with so many random twists and turns it was quite impossible to put it down. I've read it with my class of 7-8 year olds and they have found it a real delight, laughing away and wondering what Grogbah would do next. I'm pretty sure my funny voices helped with the enjoyment factor, and who knew goblin messengers could have northern twangs? If I'm honest, I think I loved it more than the kids, as I've already been looking into getting the sequel to find out what might happen next are this mad hotel!
December 12, 2025
The Nothing to See Here Hotel
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ .5 (2.5/5)
Aladdin if they were all goblins and decided to hide in Hotel Transylvania, which was actually run by an incredibly grumpy troll. And yes they kept all of the terrible cultural inaccuracies and stereotypes, ||even though there was no need to do so as the goblin king literally could've hid a diamond anywhere else aside from a turban. || And there were also pirates for some reason. 🫠 The one saving grace was the pygmy dragon and he only showed up twice. 😭
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ .5 (2.5/5)
Aladdin if they were all goblins and decided to hide in Hotel Transylvania, which was actually run by an incredibly grumpy troll. And yes they kept all of the terrible cultural inaccuracies and stereotypes, ||even though there was no need to do so as the goblin king literally could've hid a diamond anywhere else aside from a turban. || And there were also pirates for some reason. 🫠 The one saving grace was the pygmy dragon and he only showed up twice. 😭
December 13, 2017
This book isn't going to break through to the adult market, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's lots of fun with a nice bit of world building and I hope it's the start of a really fun series. I got sent a proof with no illustrations and I can't wait to see a finished copy because judging by the vibrant front cover I think that will bring the book to life. I used to live in Brighton and I can well imagine this hotel, hidden by magic on the sea front.
March 18, 2018
Great fun for Y3+, the Nothing To See Here Hotel is sort of what you'd get if you dropped the Furchester Hotel onto Scream Street and invited the rudest, most spoiled royal goblin to tea. Very funny, fast-moving without being overwhelming and lots of attention to detail which makes many of the characters (and the hotel itself) memorable. I particularly loved Granny the troll and I have no doubt we'll be seeing more of Frankie Bannister and his weird friends in the future.
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