The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-30
Praises American Hotels.


These are about the only drawbacks 10
the American manner Of doing things. so
far as he could remember when asked
| to tell US the worst about ourselves And
when he talked about his pet subject.
hotels and the management thereof, his
praise OF the American idea was I'M
stinted.
Your hotels are the equal OF any in
| the world. in some respects they are su-
perior." said Mr.. kraemer. II have gone
through the st. Regis. the Plaza and 9TH
ers here and they are wonderful Tho
| 81. Regis which l have Just left, IL q
| glorious chateau
Your hotel kitchens especially astound
me. They are so roomy and 80 clean.
Europe would do we'll to copy your sani-
tary hotel kitchens. with the clean floors
OF white tiles and electrical and engineer
/ ing equipments. cold storage plants and
| SO on that are far ahead OF anything to
he found abroad.
"Your hotel bars are constant fas-
| ing again and again their general ar
rangements. And the American free lunch
my word ! asked your hotel men
how they can afford to give man who
| PERHAPS Luys only ten cent drink q
hot meal for nothing. IT Is the Ameri-
they are as sorry that the free lunch lie
necessarily part of your bars AZ we
should be to see the custom introduced
INTO England.
| But ! do like the idea OF having 80
many more little tidbits--'tempters' they
crackers covered with melted cheese and
other dainty bites, than we have in our
English bars. Setting even the expense
aside. however. l don't think we could
have the American free lunch In our bars.
In England the hotel bar Is largely run
for the guests. The free lunch would
attract a class OF patronage that would
be altogether undesirable.
Cooking ~ Good a. Any.
"As for your hotel food. the cooking
| In as good as any In the world. You get
the best chefs because you pay them more
than Er-ope does. And here you have
custom unfortunately very rare through
out Europe except In Paris. which. per-
haps more than you Americans realize,
spurs on chefs. walters. the whole serv-
Ing force to do their best.
II mean your practice Of asking. when
ordering a dinner. for particular foods
cooked In particular way. In Europe
there Is too much OF what we call the
fixed price system. There the diner
tells the waiter. Bring me dinner cost
Ing ". w. as the case may be. With the
price fixed beforehand the chef is too
prone to think. oh, we'll give him what
he ordered-S2 worth Of food Your way
Of ordering offers the chef some incentive
to do his Dest. spurs him to enthusiast SIN.
Your food prices are higher than ours.
On the other hand your hotel tables
throughout the winter boast OF fruits and
fresh vegetables, thanks to your Florida
and California farms. which On England
would be tremendously expensive luxuries
In the winter months, II obtainable at all.
As for your oysters they are a mar
vellous delight to me-
| "Friends In Philadelphia gave a dinner
for me at club at which all the dishes
were typdcally American--your oysters,
terrapin. shad. pepperpot. canvas back
duck, bread made OF maize-'corn bread.
isn't itf-American cheese and 20 on. II
was all very enjoyable.
But here you Insist upon too many
cocktails before dinner and not enourh
wines during dinner One, two. three
| cocktails. but next to no champas ma
| Why? And your champagnes are yerv
sweet to one accustomed to our dry
wines"
Our hotel bathrooms do not coma nm
| to those In the best European hotels M.
Kraemer thinks. large because in Euron:
the bathroom v designed 70 b used also
~ dressing room.