The Grand Hotel is a place of great potential; every character there sheds his or her conventional life at the revolving door and somehow ends up becoming more truly themselves there. Like the Hollywood movie that the novel would become, the characters in ‘The Grand Hotel’ are not punished for trying on new identities, even when the process involves a little lying or infidelity or larceny; the hotel’s extraordinary alchemy instead rewards them with deeper love or luxury or at least self-knowledge. What’s wrong with a little overspending or drinking too much or eating rich foods? Even in the case of the few exceptions to that rule—no spoilers here—the characters’ fates seem like just desserts for misdeeds committed in their regular lives, not their hotel lives. ‘The Grand Hotel’ is a magical place, like ‘The Love Boat’ or ‘Fantasy Island’ or its tribute movie, ‘The Grand Hotel Budapest,’ a place exempt from normal rules. A melancholy read, but sweet, too, because there are so many people trying to escape.