The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-16
NJ TOBY HAMILTON.

inlTlfR ITY QudI 2 " q CGllbuIy VI bldNCl
n, nome and abroad l have slept in more
beds and seen more Of hotel life. perhaps,
than nnv other living a From the best
hotels Of New York, st. Louis, Chicago and
Poston to the poorest junction house in the
South have tried a greater variety OF
meals and other accommodations than any
nther American. and live to speak Of it.
And there is only one word expressive Of
The whole subject, and that one word is
Iiann
IN ti- ..rst place, outside OF the large
ri,irs the first class hotels hat are worthy
n tho title can he named on the fingers of
orc land. would name them right here,
rrly II might he considered rank adver-
ts.rr and the reader might be led to believe
that had obtained some special favors
from them.
The rest differ only in degrees OF misery.
r they happen TO possess fairly good rooms
snd furnishings they have badly cooked
food II the environment is luxurious
ard the food good the service is execrable.
something. and that something necessary
To the guests comfort, is lacking.
The price may be out Of all proportion TO
what YOU really get. And what you get is
not what you want and value most-genu-
Inc comfort. That elusive quality is rarely
found m an American hotel.
have put up at the best hotel invariably
wherever ! nave been, but the American
beet usually is very comfortless. 70 express
II mildly. AS a nation we are rich and
powerful; as individuals VI are absolutely
hlInd to our own imperfections. 1t makes
our PATRIOTIC blood boil to be told Of them.
HOTELS POI BY DRuMMERs.
Z. regular lineup Of commercial travellers,
zach grabbing for the best, is an American
hotel characteristic. The tourist or leisure
cla.s of travellers is very small with US.
especially in the interior The genus drum
mcr supports the hotels, supplemented by
m occasional family on a half pleasure,
half business trip.
The meals therefore are served to suit
the requirements of the man who has an
immediate engagement and who is too busy
with his sales record to think Of what he is
eating or of how he is eating il. The waiter
who serves the food runs with it all the
lime he is in sight. for his tip depends
upon serving everybody first.
He will ordinarily take at least four and
sometimes six orders at a time and bring
in everything there is or that he can re-
member, The ordinary traveller will take
anything and he glad to get it. and he will
have swallowed it and left the room before
YOU have made up your mind as between
a steak. mutton chops or omelette.
Half an hour later you will probably
meet him walking up and down the rotunda
picking his teeth or sitting tilted back
in a big round chair, with his feet on a
b~rassbound window, quietly smoking a
cigar. What's the use Of being particular
in cooking for a man like that?
With us there is practically no such
thing as cooking from a scientific, artistic
or hygienic point of view, such as you
If food, yes; in the liberal assortment and
quantity Of food usually set on by us we
beat the world. But most Of it is wasted.
Much Of it cannot be eaten. Much that
il, eaten cannot be digested with advantage
10 the system. II there is n particular
thing that impresses me now as to my
country it is this almost criminal waste
" good food.
Good restaurants in Europe are common
You can find them in any town OF, any size
n! ove a country village and sometimes
ever there, In this country a good restau-
Iart cannot be found away from the large
cite
TAKE WHAT YoU CAN GET.
When the lineup in front has by turns
pi' is name on the hotel register the con-
A. luential gentleman behind the counter,
knowing that he has to deal with a lot of
suh'nissives who from that moment are
H. III. power. swings the book around and
commences to write in pencil opposite
each name the number Of the room that
one ! to occupy. In this work the clerk
occasionally consults a room rack but
nAyo- the traveller.
The exception is when some commercial
man who is a regular guest calls the clerk
by his first name and gets his old room or a
corner fronting the main view. As the clerk
records the room number he slams a key
~ he counter and calls a bellboy who
G-an, both key and hand baggage and
bots for the elevator or upstairs. followed
by the suhdued visitor.
The average hotel single room is a seven
by nine affair, with a small bed, a wash
stand. a bureau and a chair. The room may
he a trihe larger or smaller and the bed
vller or more narrow. as the case may be,
bat the real luxury is a second chair. The
guest may be worth a million-or willing
4" lay for a better room-but being a
stranger that's what he gets.
IN thisc country the best room in the great
average hotel is always reserved for the
guest who never comes. ! nave known the
hest rooms ~unoccupied while people were
turned away-in expectation OF a con-
~tinUency hat never arose.
For 3e5 days Of the year the best rooms
often are reserved for the possible dis
tiuguished guest who. the proprietor and
hs clerks fondly imagine, may suddenly
turn up. The worst rooms are worked of
m those who arrive early, leaving the better
rooms for those coming in later, This rule
obtains only in the United States.
Practically all American travellers a
without question any room the clerk may
have the goodness TO assign TO them, II
Get % ] meekly follow the perspiring bellboy
10 3.
TIE HOTEL ROOM.
The utter cheerlessness OF our American
hotel rooms is something depressing. A
good many people commit suicide in hotel
rooms. In il the laRt AtraW.