Hotel Whitefish in San Francisco is the home of Saul Zuckerman and Otto Schmidt who have insomnia because they are psychic Siamese twins. In their minds, they are inseparable and share the same dreams. Otto projects the dream and his brother Saul receives it. Otto is not aware of the dream and if his brother dislikes the dream being sent, he refuses to sleep. If Saul won't sleep, Otto cannot sleep. Otto is born first. After waiting two weeks for the second child to be born, Otto Sr. has a heart attack and dies. As infants they are abandoned by their mother Sophie Zuckerman in front of an orphanage. Aunt Sylvia takes them in but cannot deal with their insomnia and puts them in the San Diego Sanitarium for Sleeping Illnesses. Under the care of Dr. Louise Glover they make progress until they forced to leave under a court order obtained by Yassar Faisal an Arab guide Sylvia met while on a caravan. Faisal has stolen the deed to the hotel owned by Saul and Otto and makes them work as bellhops. As bellhops the boys meet an odd assortment of characters and go on many strange adventures until the hotel's true ownership is revealed.