Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-09-05
HOTELS IN ENGLAND.
The Custom of Living in Them is
Growing.
Good Hotels Largely Responsible for
the Change-Twenty Ave Years Ago
London Had Nope-Now There are
Several Very Good Ones.


Of the best The hotel habit has become
fashionable craze. People now live 10
hotels during the season instead of taking
town houses. Those who still have Lon
don mansions on their hands patronize
the hotels for meals. Not content with
dining out, your smart woman of to-day
must have her afternoon tea at Claridge's.
her lunch at the Carlton and some ultra
smart people have been trying even to
create craze for going out Tor break
fast.
The twenty leading hotels of London
represent a capital of something like
seven million sterling. During a busy
month they accommodate about $500
guests over night and find employment for
1850 servants. The Gordon hotels repre-
sent an investment of three and a half
millions, and secured a profit last year of
E1J6 600 The Cecil is run on a scale great
er than the whole government of more
than one South American state.
The pioneers of the improved London
hotels undoubtedly were the Gordon COM
pany. and their great houses, the Grand,
the Victoria and the Metropoc were rev.
Citations to London. But iE recent years
they have had very keen rivalry. The
Savoy brought luxury to the Thames En-
bankment. The Frederick syndicate has
fought them on their own ground by
building monster palaces In various parts
OF the country, palaces which count their
rooms almost by the thousand, and the
ground they cover by the acre Then in
1896 came that triumph of barbaric splen-
dor, the Cecil, with its accommodation for
80 people. Not satisfied with this the
Cecil is now busy adding couple of hun
dred more bedrooms. Railway hotels have
been growing greater and greater the
leaders of them being the Midland Grand
with 400 bedrooms and the Great Eastern
with $50. Then Claridges was transform
cd too ffr "a N.ic Ell tore md ha
Carlton came to the fore with accommo-
dation for about three hundred guests
Tho Carlton is considered, and rightly, the
last word in hotel luxury. Its manager NJ
Ritz, is the genius of the European hotel
world.
The hotel world of London, of Cours.
has its romances. Some of the biggest es-
adjustments have been created by their
propretors out of little or nothing In
one case the secretary of a temperance So
ciety opened tiny house. This became so
crowded that he had to take a second.
House was added to house, servants were
multiplied. accommodation improved, and
If one wishes to see the outcome he need
only 60 to Smiths big hotel in Southamp-
ton row, In another case butler started
a boarding house in the West End HIS
boarding house became a hotel. To-day It
stands in the front rank of the big Lon
don palaces. and its owner is great coun-
member Of parliament and the owner Of
fine estates
1t is strange how, in spite of exterior
resemhlances, each hotel has distinct
character of its own. The man who has
money to spend and wishes to make a
show with it naturally goes to the Cecil.
The quieter man seeks the Savoy. None
but the fashionable would penetrate Clar-
idges S. And you should be 1T least a sena-
tor or foreign prince il YOU wish to stay at
Browns. II you are a hasty business man
you go to the Midland Grand or Charing
Cross. II you are a cosmopolitan and
study your personal comfort you will prob
ably so to De keysers on the Embark
ment. Colonials and Americans have a
fondness for the Gordon hotels The Fred
erick hotels, the Russell and the Great
Central have hardly yet time to obtain a
peculiar stamp.
Some very old hotels in West London.
untouched by modern invasion. still retain
their aristocratic connection. 1t may truly
be said of them that they provide the eas t
accommodation for the most money. They
are small, ramshacke without any up-to-
date ConVeniences. Their servants are of
the most oldfashioned cut their furni-
turo is usually shabby and out Of date,
while their prices often exceed those OF the
est-known resorts. Yet their patrons are
the very best people Old fashioned coun-
try families, who would regard even Cla-
ridges with disdain, go to these places
like sheep. They know the landlord and
look on him "a kind Of family retainer.
In the modern hotels prices have gone
down alongside the improvement Of accom-
mediation. The old uncertain period when
you never knew what you were going to
pay unless you bargained and chaffere |
with the clerk beforehand. has now passed
right away. In the up-to-date hotel you
can test every charge by the tariff and
~
recorded on your room ticket or marked
on the walls of your room. There is ii
printed scale for everything. Wines are
still ridiculously high. and We have vet 10
ind the hotel-keeper who regards fruit as
anything but a pernicious luxury, for
which you must pay heavy extras Even IN
the newest establishments YOU may have
a dozen solid dishes for your breakfas st
If you please without additional charge.
but II you desire a cherry, a banana or an
apple you will duly ind it put down in
your bill, In the up-to-date houses to-day
the general prices run: For single bedroom.
from 6s.; n suite Of rooms. from 25s
breakfast, So Cd, lunch, 80, cd; dinner.
IS. to los. I'd. You should be able to pay
your way in a good hotel for from six
guineas to ten guineas ii week.
Within the past few years the fashion
has very materially increased of living
altogether in hotels Residential hotels.
iloIllAS lOi PEI lHdIltill SutNtS, are gradual
ly being established among us. Queen
Annes Mansions, by st. James's Park,
WAS the first. and is still the greatest, OF
these. Every reader of Mrs Lynn Lin
tons biography will remember her CRATE
full sigh of relief when she threw off the
burden of housekeeping and took resi-
dence in these mansions. ST, Ermn's has
recently come to the fore. with new i'm
prorements, 1t has accommodation for
200 guests and finds its accommodation
too small But besides these a large num-
her of permanent guests are living in the
bigger hotels,
A married couple with an income of
from $500 to i1,O0 year can secure lux
uries and accommodation in n hotel which
would be impossible elsewhere. But they
have no home. However long YOU remain
In hotel you can never put your feet on
your own mantel. lock your door, and feel
that you are in your own castle, where the
world cannot penetrate. In reply to ou,s-
lions as to whether and why permanent
residence is increasing, some of the lead
ing managers have very kindly given their
experiences. Mr., Judah of the Hotel Cecil
writes; II consider that the principal rea-
son why many people are taking up
their residence in hotels in preference to
private houses is on account of the In
creasing difficulty in obtaining domestic
servants
The manager of the Holborn Viadurt
Hotel writes; The number Of permanent
residents in hotels Is steadily increasing
every year, one of the main reasons is the
gradual decrease of reliable servants, an
other reason is the total absence OF worry
In hotels In case a man wishes to entertain
his friends "