The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-03-22
WOMEN IN HOTELS.
Not Desirable as Regular Guests ard
Inclined 20 Make Trouble.

julius Chambers in Brooklyn Eagle.
Another change in the management of
"a distinctively woman's hotel is an
nounced.
why is it so difficult to conduct a
hotel for women?" | asked the proprietor
of the most fashionable hotel in New
York. / sincerely regret that he declines
to be quoted, alleging that the ethics of
the business preclude criticism of one
manager by another.
1.-THE fault is about equally divided be-
tween the management and the patrons"
was the reply. Experience shows that
woman manager does nor possess the
right temperament to deal with members
of her own sex. 1t may as we'll be said,
frankly and honestly, that women are
very exactng; put them In a hotel that
assumes to cater wholly to them, and
they construe the assumption in to an
implication that their slightest whim is
to be gratified. Nothing that Is possible
for the feminine mind to conceive of is
too preposterous to demand. A nervous,
hysterical woman, to cite an example
stated to me by a former manager of the
Hotel Martha Washington, Is liable to In
sist upon a bright wood fire on an August
night. merely because she is threatened
with a chilli 1t doesn't make any differ
ence whether the lady actually has the
going to have it. is sufficient,
"It would need a neurologist to ex-
plain why a woman who lives alone in
a hotel for any length of time becomes
almost uncomfortable as a guest-I mean
the best of them. Go over to the Fifth
Avenue Hotel, for instance. and they will
tell you about a fine old lady who dwelt
there ten years and insisted upon having
one meal in her room daily--for no other
roo hpn
slyly secrete plate or piece of plated
silver. 1t wasn't theft; but whatever 1t
was, the act gave her pleasure. When
ever the guest was absent to visit rela-
tives, the chambermaid and porter would
open a closet, where she placed her loot,
and remove most of 1t; but no questions
We're asked by the guest on her return.
She began again to store away plates,
cream pitchers and sugar bowls. Now,
such guest Is quite mucn of a null
sance as was the lady who wanted a
wood fire in August"
what Is your ruler
81 have been In this business over thir-
ty years" replied the proprietormanager,
slowly II began as a clerk; then be-
came a room clerk-a post In which more
experience is required than in any other
department of the executive management
of a modern hotel I strove very hard to
avoid mistakes. Some of my best patrons
were people of large wealth. who were
1attered If they were given a suite Of
rooms they particularly liked. This pc
culiarlty applies especially to the women
members of the family. There was a
western millionaire, for example, who
made it a sine qua non that he have a
particular suite of five rooms on the
fourth floor Nothing else would satisfy
him. His wife had grown accustomed to
the furniture of that particular apart
ment. OF course. the man didn't care a
fig. Whenever he'd telegraph from Chi
cago that he was coming, / took pains to
get that apartment in hand. Many a
time have | kept 1t empty rather than to
take a chance of not being ready. Some
times the family would be detained, or
would stop en- route; but the extra rent
was worked into the bill, somehow.
Trouble was due to the woman in that
family.
ooh, must tell you how once I scored