Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-11-03
WHATIT COSTS TO REEP 4 HOTEL.
The Cause Of MaDy Failures Enor-
mons Rfnts Pnid In New York


INV \ OkK, oct Is -UIe item in I've d.
list or dishursemeLtS reads. Lost iii tn
Metro pJlitaD hotel, sd, JJ0' No tritle that 4
| bay ioI an experiment in hotel keepir 2
when Tweed leaSet the Metropolitan from
| A. T. Stewart, and set up his son there il
/ business, he spent money by the oarraI fo
] msguin 'ent decorations ard the coStlies
carpels and furniture that IL wa possible 4
/ procure. He transformed the house into q
gorgeous palace, elaborate ard ornate In
every art; but his son had not been running
| IL many months when the great ring crash
! took place, and then the great ho'el project
ike al the other princely enterprises OF
Tweed, tumbled like house of cards.
The MetToi Olitan has just changed hands
again. IL was surrendered q few days ago tC
Jucge Hilton, representing the Stewart es-
tate, by Breslin * Purcell, the late lessees
MI. CLAIR, one of the managers OF the Grand
Union of Saratoga, has been pla ed in charge
for the Stewart estate, in the same way that
he Graz Union las been since MI. Stew
arts death. Breslin Il Purcell could not ma Ike
IL pay. III Is doubtful If any one co1ld ma ke
" pay, and at the same time pay the enOr-
NOUS rent den anded for the property. When
me LelaLds first opened the Metropolitan.
just twenty I'VE years ago, the rent was
$1,000 year. 1t a1 anced steadily until
hnGlly the txorbitant figure OF $40 900 was
reached The gentlemen who succeeded
SouI Tweed in the management stru gled
alOrg under that load for a while, but found
they would have to stop If the rent was not
reduced The burden was altogether too
ElUalIy, ana Dy degrees, III was re-
duced 10 81 ,0G0, but even that proved tn be
too much, and as no further reduction would
be made, the managers were Obliged 10 sur
render the property.
Fu.Iya sc1 e OF ho,el failures hive occI
red in New York since the panic. a mols
The principal hotels which have changed
Astor House, the New IOrk, the Grand
Union, The Winchester and the Coleman.
The RossmoTe may be added, with the eX
pianation hat the lessee, Mr.. Leland, sur
f1rsan -Ynaar hoo In IL a
not make IL pay, not in consequence OF &C
tUal failure, for he has not failed. The trans
Ter OF he Metropolitan anu RDSSmOre took
place on tie same day-Saturday last. la
almost every instance of hotel failure within
the lime named tue chief cause I2S been eX-
orb rent. The rents still paid b. the prin
cipal hoIel> are decidedly steep. The Fifth
Avenue Ho.el properly. including the six
stores foutIu- on Broadway, bring a n an
nU3l rental Oi $4,000. The rent OF the
hotel proper is about $4,000. Toe rent
Of the stately Windsor, which hal just
been brOuSri up - paying point WIel the
owner, Mr. Daily, wandered of 10 desOlItc
spot, near Calvary Cemetery, and committed
suicide, il $1,000. The prOprletOrS OF the 81.
Nicholas have been paying $1,000. bat i
understand the figure has lately been cut
down somewhat. Mr.. BresliI pays $1,000
for the GiilSey. The Leila udS pay The same
for the Sturteyent, which, though not so
stylish in its structure, Is cOIsi;terably larger
than The GilSey, and the Hoffman, aoout the
same size as the Gilsey, also rents for so Ot5.
s35.O00, and half a doZ IN others, including
the Coleman. Albernarle. -. ClOui, Grand
Central and Continental range from so ,O)o
up to 80 200.
1t is no easy matter 10 pay such rents as
these, AID il is no wonder that the hotel keep
ers fail when such enormous sums have To
be Prov ed Tor. One OF the most experienced
hotel managers tells me that the decline in
the cost OF running good hotel has not been
more than from fifteen to twenty per cent in
the past three years. The chief item on the
list OF provisions, beef, keeps up very near
the Old figure. aed no matter how close tina
management may be, IL is found that the
running EXPENSES foot up eighty per cent of
what they were in flush times. Help is
about twenty-five per cent. less. but
this Is partly offset by the Important
item Of wear and tear of furniture, &c. which
is the same III bad times as in gOoi, and
which averages about fifteen per cent.
all along. Several New York hotels
have reduced rates from twenty-five to
thirty per cent, and now give room All
board at -. % 10 $3.50 per day. the SUITE
want has been the leader in this direction,
and the managers report "A prosperous bust
ness as the result. The Fifth Avenue, the
W ,ndsor. and the Gilsey still charge the top
rate OF - day, but OF course they make
NOR moderate terms with regular boa rders.
They are the rec 1gniZed leading fashionable
hOlels OF New York, and their patronage is of
the E1Ost substantial kiGd. 1t costs about
500 a day 10 run such a hotel as the Sturte-
want, and Il 400 10 run the Fifth avenue. IL
is as easy TO lose fortune managing a hotel
IS trying TO establish a newspdp-r.-. BllOdL1
j,r