The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1884-03-15
SOUTHERN HOTELS.
A TRAVELLER OF EXPERIENCE
WRITES HIS CRITICISMS
And Kindly Suggests that Certain I'M
prOvements would Result in an In
crease Of Business.
To The Chronicte.


GREENSBORO, March 12-I have occa-
sion to travel through nearly all the South
eastern States, and know where the good
hotels are and where there are not good
hotels. 1t is not in a spirit of complaint
that | write about the plain necessity for
improvement, but from a desire to see
everything keep pace with the times.
Plain speaking is necessary to correct an
almost universal evil, one that tells against
the South with painful force all the time,
yet the men most interested pecuniarily,
as a class, do not seem to see it. have
| found more good hotels in Florida than in
any other State in Dixie. In North Caro-
! lima have tried them in seventeen cities
| and towns. You don't expect much in
+, country places, but there is Virginia
| gentleman at Waynesville in your noun
! tains who has the true idea. According
to his means and facilities he keeps
! splendid place. When a man does his
| best he should be credited with it. There
are houses in Greensboro, the BenboW
and the McAdoo, which come very near
! the mark clean rooms. quick attendants,
a neat table well served fresh vegetables,
| plenty Of sweet milk and rich cream.
honor those good landlords. Then your own
| Marlborough poor building originally, is
getting to be a delightful place. Good
! food in abundance cooked to the taste,
coffee equal to any, well aired rooms, nice
ly laundried bed linen, clerks without big
| breastpins, but attentive and courteous to
all guests. kittrell's is another place en-
titled to cOmmendation. Where are the
others Doubtless there are more, but
have not happened to see them.
The great lack of every Southern State,
your own included, is that the landlords
have not got hold of the true hotel idea.
This is more serious affair than the un-
initiated would suppose. For every ten
| winter tourists who visit the South now,
there would be a hundred if the hotel sys-
TENS were changed to meet the tastes Of
| the travelling public. Take any one OF the
best and notice the method of the servants
The head waiter conducts the guest to a
seat, draws out the chair with a flourish
pushes it under the sitter, bows politely
and retires. a dozen walters may stand
idle at other tables but the tourist accus-
toned to immediate attention, waits in
wondering annoyance INT 4 his particular
John comes at his leisure from the m myste>
rious retreat from which meals are evolved
You order two or three dishes; he hears
it all, then rushes off for water and serves
you with full goblet About ten min
utes later he returns from the kitchen,
puts down any quantity of little dishes,
including. if you are lucky, one (or two
va!ids of delicate appetites, who comprise
a considerable per centage of the winter
travel from the North find their plates
surrounded with an array of little dishes
containing samples Of almost everything
on the bill Of fare. That sight alone des-
troys what meagre appetite they had.
The fastidiOus stomach rebels, and after a
short struggle with the fleet of ditty
dishes, the invalid beats a retreat.
The entire system is as Wasteful as it is
absurd. People want what their tastes
demand, nothing more. Part of the trOu-
bic lies in the mental incompetence of the
walters to carry in their heads multipli-
city Of orders, but the evil is in the syS-
TEN. If the landlords would abjure ditty
dishes entirely, limit their viands to a rea-
sonabe number, instruct their head wait
ers to see to it that no guest was delayed
for a moment, unless every waiter was
actually busy, it would go far to remove
these crying evils.
When family or a group of friends
dine together nothing promotes their en-
joyment more than to have the steak fol
all in one piece which the head of the par
ty can serve to each. So with any Other
dish But when every diner is surround
ed by individual dishes, the social charac
ter of the meal disappears. 1t is every
one for himself.
{ In conclusion, a well kept hotel invaria
bly, promotes the prosperity of the tow
l in which it is kept while a poor one drives
people from a town and dries it up.
AN Ex-HOTELIsT DRUMMER.
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