Hotel

HOTEL. There is no legal definition in Great Britain of the word "hotel," and the term is loosely applied to a wide variety of establishments having very little in common—to the more pre tentious public-house and to the larger type of boarding-house, as well as to the luxuriously appointed, fully licensed house affording sleeping accommodation and catering facilities for hundreds of visitors.

English law admits the existence of houses licensed for the sale of intoxicating (or, in the Scottish terminology, "excisable") liquor; and recognizes, too, the existence of "inns." But a licensed house may or may not have sleeping accommodation, and an inn may or may not have a licence. An inn has been judicially de fined as "a house where a traveller is furnished with everything he has occasion for while on his way." In the eyes of the British law, the proprietors and general managers of the greatest of modern luxury hotels are but "inn keepers," and the licence by virtue of which they conduct that part of their business concerned with the sale of liquor is the ordinary publican's licence. This failure of the law to recognize the existence of the modern hotel and to differentiate between it and the public-house is bitterly resented by those who direct and conduct what, for want of an accurate term, we must call the legitimate hotel industry.

The unsatisfactory state of the law in this respect has a direct and adverse bearing on the condition of the bona fide hotel in dustry of Great Britain. Both directly and indirectly the effi ciency of the industry is impaired. Hotel operation is hedged about by antiquated laws and modern restrictions. The latter are, for the most part, legacies of the World War and of the Defence of the Realm Act regulations; the former are an anachro nism, being laws passed centuries ago and framed to meet condi tions infinitely removed from those which we know to-day. In the words of the earl of Bessborough, who is president of the Hotels and Restaurants Association, the law regards even the highest class of hotel as "little more than an inn and little less than a disorderly house." Higher Status in America and Continental Europe.—In other European countries and in the United States the status of hotels is very much higher; and Governments have been quick to recognize the national importance of the industry, and the fact that highly efficient hotels are indispensable to the development of the ever-growing tourist traffic, and are closely associated with a country's commercial prosperity.

The direct bearing of unfavourable laws on the development of the hotel industry is seen in the discouragement to the investment of new capital in an enterprise so hampered by obsolete laws, and so much at the mercy of the casual occupants of licensing benches. By-laws, also, do not, for the most part, encourage hotel development in England. The limitation of building heights and the regulations which apply to bathroom design and to the placing of lavatories may be alluded to as typical of conditions which im pose on British hotel construction more severe restrictions and heavier obligations than are encountered by hotel designers in America or elsewhere in Europe. When comparing British hotels with hotels in other lands these facts should not be overlooked; nor should it be forgotten that, in comparison with the hotels of the United States (which are in a class by themselves), the great majority of hotels in Great Britain are "elderly." It is much more difficult entirely to "modernize" an old hotel than to build a new one embodying all the most up-to-date ideas. On the other hand the cost of building is to-day so greatly in excess of pre-war charges that the old hotel—despite its lack of modernity—has a very big economic advantage over its new competitor. That fact again tends to discourage competitive building.

British provincial hotels suffer by comparison with the provin cial hotels of France in their lack of hot and cold water laid on to the bedrooms and of central heating. The catering in the smaller and more remote British hotels is also frequently of poor quality by comparison. It is only fair, however, to bear in mind, when considering the former criticism, that, under a Government sub sidized scheme, French provincial hotels have of late years enjoyed special credits enabling them to spend large sums on reconstruc tions and on modernizing equipment. The Credit National Ho telier, as it is called, is responsible very largely for the high rate of efficiency of the average French country hotel. No correspond ing benefits are enjoyed by provincial hotels in Great Britain. National Characteristics.—The leading authorities on the subject incline to the view that hotel design will continue to be influenced by the aim not to evolve a standard "international" form of hotel which would render the de luxe hotel in London an exact replica of those in Paris, New York, Berlin and Rome, but rather to develop national distinctions which are already apparent. Whereas the luxury hotels of France and Austria, for example, are of what is known as the "palace" type, aiming at sheer magnifi cence, and those of the United States are gigantic buildings designed for the mass ministration of standardized services, organ ized on highly scientific and largely mechanical lines, the ideal of the great British hotel is to reproduce, while greatly extending, the characteristic amenities of the private town mansion or country house, and to recapture its traditional air of culture, courtesy, quiet dignity and hospitality. Certain new hotels in Mayfair exemplify how successfully that ideal may be expressed by British architects and a management policy imbued with those principles. The typical American hotel tends to become vaster and vaster. The 2,000 room caravanserai is succeeded by others of 3,000 rooms, and the accommodation of even those giant erections is already greatly exceeded by yet more recent building. In Great Britain and Ireland the Soo room hotel is deemed a large one. It is questionable whether the resources of any single hotel in Great Britain exceed i,000 rooms; nor is any tendency towards building very much larger hotels apparent. The huge American style of hotel is also unknown on the Continent of Europe. Anywhere in Europe a hotel containing as many as 60o rooms is regarded as very large indeed.

Kitchen Design.

There can be no uniformity in the lay-out of hotels, but certain widely approved principles may be noted. Ideally, the actual kitchen should, most hotel authorities are agreed, be on the top floor, both for hygienic reasons and to obviate any odour of cooking penetrating into the public or private rooms. Considerations of rapid and efficient service, however, incline the chef-de-cuisine to regard the ideal arrangement as being both kitchen and restaurant on the same level. In point of fact all the kitchen departments are usually found in the base ment, where the "brigades" work by artificial light and in condi tions of artificial ventilation. Economy of space on the floor devoted to the public rooms is the governing factor. A compro mise is often effected by placing the kitchen in the basement, the dining room on the ground floor, and a service room adjacent, on the same level, and served directly by service lifts from the kitchen. Grill rooms are often placed in the basement.

The chef's domain, over which he rules as an autocrat, corn prises not only the kitchen proper, but also the larder, pastry cook's department, vegetable preparation corner, pantry, scullery and service room. Each sub-division of the kitchen proper, where are carried on the preparation of sauces, fish, roasts, etc., is in the immediate charge of a chef-de-partie. The lay-out of the kitchen department and the arrangement of the apparatus call for skilful and experienced treatment by the specialist kitchen engineer, in consultation with the chef, the aim being to secure the maximum co-ordination possible, visible to the chef's watchful eye, to keep check of all outgoings, to facilitate the work of the cooks, and to expedite the service to the dining room. Good ventilation and lighting are of prime importance.

Public Rooms in British Hotels.

Almost invariably, the ground floor of a modern hotel is divided between the vestibule, in which are placed the various offices, reception, cashier, hall porter, enquiry, etc., and a series of public rooms. There is increasingly noticeable a tendency for the elimination of corridors on the ground floor, and the arrangement of commodious lounges en suite with no dividing walls. The old style of separate drawing rooms, reading and writing-rooms and the rest, is rapidly becoming obsolete. The bar, if any, is, or should be, kept as separate as possible from the ordinary residential part of the hotel. Billiard rooms are at a discount; and, except in definitely "commercial" hotels, travellers' stock-rooms and the old-time "commercial rooms" are becoming scarce. In the lay-out of the ground floor of a modern hotel revolving doors to the street, an installation of central heating in the entrance hall and public rooms, and provision for a passenger lift are indispensable features.

It is a well-established principle of hotel design to keep private rooms entirely apart from public rooms. From the first floor up ward the house is usually devoted entirely to private rooms and suites, with, of course, the necessary provision of bathrooms and lavatories, chamber maids' service rooms, and, usually, on the top floor, sleeping quarters for the resident staff.

Modern Bedroom Design.

Visitors' private accommodation is either in the form of single bedrooms or double bedrooms, or suites of rooms including a sitting-room and private bathroom. The proportion between the number of each of these classes of accommodation will depend on the class and style of hotel. In double bedrooms there is a tendency to substitute "twin" single beds for the large double bed. The well-equipped bedroom has, in addition to the usual furniture and fittings, a writing table, a tele phone, electric lights over the dressing table and the bed, a radi ator under the window and either a gas or electric fire controlled by a coin-meter, and a basin bracketed to the wall, with hot and cold water laid on. The last mentioned convenience, in particular, is coming to be regarded as a sine qua non in the modern hotel.

Bathrooms and Sanitary Equipment.

The American ideal of a private bathroom to every bedroom is impracticable in the majority of existing British hotels, although several recently built hotels in London are equipped in this manner. There can be no doubt, however, that in many British country hotels the bath room accommodation is insufficient. Where private bathrooms are provided it is usual to place a water-closet in the bathroom. By laws in many places, however, forbid the architect to allow the "complete" bathroom to lead directly out of a bedroom, thus necessitating the construction of a lobby into which both rooms must open. Moreover, water-closets must be affixed to an external wall of the building, and bathrooms must be ventilated by being given direct access to the open air. The net result of these ad mittedly hygienic requirements is to confront the hotel owner who wishes to modernize an old hotel with a set of almost impossible conditions, compelling such a sacrifice of space where it is most valuable, that he simply cannot afford to make provision for numerous additional bathrooms. On the European Continent the conditions imposed are much less onerous. The built-in tub bath and the "bidet" or sitz-bath are now found in the private bathrooms of leading British hotels.

Hotel Organization.

The organization scheme of a typical great modern hotel follows approximately the following lines : At the head is the managing director, the link between the executive officers and the board. The manager is the chief executive officer of the organization ; the assistant-manager helps and deputizes for him when required, but has no specified independent function. The organization is divided into three main departments, house, food, drinks. All are controlled ultimately by the manager.

House.—This comprises three distinct but related sub-depart ments, viz., reception ; housekeeper ; hall porter. The reception clerks are responsible for the letting of rooms, cash transactions, letters, keys, safe-deposits, enquiries, telephones, and keep all appropriate records. The housekeeper is responsible for the condi tion of rooms, public and private, corridors and staircases, and all equipment in her department ; she supervises bedroom service, valets, vacuum cleaning and window cleaning; controls the linen room, and orders supplies of linen and house cleaning material. The hall porter supervises all uniformed staff, including footmen, liftmen, luggage porters, parcel porters, pages and cloakroom attendants.

Food.—The chef-de-cuisine is in charge of the kitchen and orders food supplies. The restaurant manager supervises the serv ice for restaurant, grill room, floors and banqueting rooms, and orders supplies for those departments.

Drinks.—The cellar manager is responsible for stock of wines, spirits and minerals ; supervises service of the dispense bars and American bar, and orders supplies for those departments.

Directly responsible to the management on the administrative side are also the following special departments and services. These exercise control over, or perform services for, the house, food, or drinks departments.

Accounting.—Keeping of visitors' accounts and general book keeping.

Control.—This department checks all bookkeeping; controls all financial transactions ; checks all goods received ; handles accounts with suppliers ; takes periodically stock of food, drinks and equip ment ; places orders for supplies of food, drinks and equipment, stationery and printing ; supervises receiving clerks, storemen and cashiers ; and keeps all connected records.

Engineering and Maintenance.—Responsible for mechanical plant ; supervises electrician, plumber, carpenters, painters, up holsterers, French polishers ; is responsible for maintenance of building and equipment ; keeps all connected records; and orders supplies for these departments.

Staff Manager.—Engages staff, except where this function is performed directly by heads of departments; keeps all connected records.

House Detective.—Protects house and guests' property; super vises firemen, watchmen and timekeepers.

As illustrative of the complexity and comparative size of the organization of a big first-class hotel it may be mentioned that a hotel with accommodation for Soo visitors may have a staff of 600 or 700 employees.

Hotels and Social Life.

The place of the hotel in social life has increased greatly in importance. As a rendezvous of business men, as a headquarters of conferences, as the setting for social gatherings and for "bazaars" and banquets, the well-appointed, well-managed hotel to-day enters very largely into the life and activities of the community. Most first-class hotels have ball rooms, and dances and even cabaret performances are now nor mally provided for the entertainment, not only of their resident visitors, but of the general public. Orchestras of a high order play in the restaurant or lounge and for dancing; and by the wizardry of broadcasting they also provide free entertainment for millions of listeners who have neither the opportunity nor the means of seeking their amusement in a sumptuous hotel.

See also LICENSED VICTUALLER ; RESTAURANT.

(W.

B. CA.) A hotel in America is defined as a residence building which is occupied as a temporary abiding place by individuals who seek lodging, with or without meals. The hotel building contains a general public dining room, a cafe or both, and a general kitchen. An apartment hotel is a building in which the apartments are rented in suites, usually for periods of not less than one month, and in which a common dining room may be provided. Hotels never permit cooking or the preparation of food in their guest rooms. Apartment hotels on the other hand may provide within the living suite a small room for the preparation of meals. In America this is known as a kitchenette or pullman kitchen and is equipped with a stove, refrigerator, sink and storage space. Ten ants of an apartment hotel look upon the building as their per manent home, and the introduction of commercial features is considered an intrusion tending to destroy its privacy and domes tic qualities. The problems of designing apartment hotels are so different and so much simpler than those of transient or com mercial hotels that they need not be considered here.

Hotels may be classified as: (I) country and resort hotels, (2) club hotels, (3) working men's and working women's hotels, (4) community hotels, (5) hotels of 30o rooms or less, (6) hotels of 30o to 600 rooms, (7) hotels of more than 600 rooms.

Country and Resort Hotels.

This classification includes those catering entirely to a seasonal business. Their needs are highly specialized. In these days of enormous tourist shifts of population during seasons, a single management will operate seasonal hotels in the larger tourist centres in conjunction with hotels in the all-year centres. By shifting their employees, they are able to reduce overhead considerably during the off-season. Then there is the type of resort hotel depending entirely on the tourist seasons for its business and catering only to seasonal guests. By operating a chain of hotels, located entirely according to cli mate, the same help may be retained and sent from one hotel to another, thus avoiding the necessity of building up a new organiza tion each season. From June to October, the management operates a hotel at some popular northern summer resort. The summer season over, this hotel is closed and the organization shifted to the far south or the northern winter resorts.

The summer resort hotel should be built where the location can be featured as an attraction. The guest bedrooms must be spacious and airy, ceilings high, corridors wide and public spaces large and roomy. Operation of this type of hotel includes a social manager who plans sight-seeing parties, dances, concerts, athletic meets and various other social functions much as on an ocean voyage. The country hotel is really an Apartment Hotel with club features such as accommodations for golf, tennis and other leisure sports.

Club Hotels.

This classification includes buildings that are primarily designed to give university, athletic or other clubs, society or fraternal bodies, both headquarters and sleeping rooms. Fraternal organizations of a national character find that buildings of this type in the larger cities increase the friendliness of their members and help them to live congenially while visiting strange cities. Due to the club's other revenues, the rates of rooms to members are reasonable. Hotels in this classification can offer their members facilities that the commercial hotel cannot. Site and location are not essential and large profits are not expected, but membership dues are needed to assure the financial success of club hotels.

However, few club or fraternal hotel buildings can support themselves financially without additional revenue than that de rived from bedrooms. In transient hotels the public or non revenue space rarely exceeds one-third of the total floor space of the building, while in the club hotel non-revenue producing spaces will frequently be 75% of the total area. The prohibition law in the United States has taken away from Club Hotels one of their greatest sources of income. Non-religious clubs are able to augment income from card rooms, but this must not be con fused with unlawful gambling. Hotels of the fraternal type cannot be big income producers, unless the guest bedrooms are suffi ciently numerous to carry most of the financial fixed charges.

Working Men's and Working Women's Hotels.—Buildings designed to meet the requirements of people whose incomes are limited. These hotels are graded according to the scale of wages of the middle class, and a worker can almost always find one of these hotels to suit his purse. In the higher class may be placed the Y.M.C.A., semi-philanthropic and kindred organizations. Be low these are the rooming or lodging houses, with the minimum of accommodations and containing the greatest possible number of rooms in the smallest space.

The Y.M.C.A. hotels are really modified club hotels. So much of their space is given over to club, social, and religious phases that it is very difficult for them to be self-supporting without out side financial aid. Bedrooms average 7o to 8o sq.ft. in area, and have a closet, but few rooms have private baths or private toilet facilities. Yearly membership dues and voluntary contributions help defray maintenance costs.

Under this classification may also be placed what is known as the "white collar" hotels. This type of building is highly success ful financially. They contain almost all the usual conveniences of a transient hotel except a Ball Room and the larger open spaces. The rooms are comfortable, and average from 90 to I io square feet. Numerous bath rooms are provided, though they are reduced in area to an absolute minimum. It is possible to place this type of building in close proximity to business centres and rent rooms at ten to fifteen dollars per week. The architecture is good and the maintenance is on a high plane.

Community Hotels and Hotels of 300 Rooms or Less.— Hotels of this class are grouped together in this article because their problems are identical. The community hotel is financed by the citizens of the city in which it is to be placed, while the other may be privately financed to meet a community's special needs. The committee in charge of building usually has in mind a hotel to meet certain local conditions, but beyond that point things are usually hazy and only an unbiased expert hotel consultant can suggest definite methods of procedure. In general it may be said that no corner in any small city is too expensive for a community hotel. Proximity to the railroad station is important but far more so are store rentals. The more people that pass in front of the hotel the greater becomes the value of rental space. Street noises do not disturb the average guest. No hotel has ever been known to close its doors because it was on the most prominent and busiest street. It is advisable to consider the possibility of future expan sion, and if land values are not prohibitive additional space should be purchased.

The number of guest bedrooms depends on the number of sim ilar modern hotel rooms already existent. Consideration must be given to the city's social activities and needs, and its recreational facilities. It is unsound finance to project a hotel of this classifi cation of less than one hundred guest bedrooms, or one in which the active income producing rooms do not equal a minimum of of the total floor area.

Hotels of 300 to 600 Rooms.—In this class come those types of hotels that are in cities of a population up to 250,000. The problems involved are a combination of the community and the largest hotels.

Hotels of More Than 600 Rooms.—This class of hotel is found only in the cities of large population where the competition is keen. City and State building, zoning, labour and other ordi nances are continually confronted, limiting and designating the type of construction, light and air, courts and yards, fire regula tions, and other similar restrictions. The problems involved in the design of this type of hotel call for the highest skill for their solution and involve many difficult features.

M. Boome

r, Hotel Management, Harper & Bros., New York, 1925 ; W. I. Hamilton, Employer-Employee Relations in Hotels, Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, Md., 1925 ; "Modern Hotels," Architectural Forum, 1 92 5, vol. 39, pp. 195-274 ; Harry Prince, "Cost per Room of Hotels," Hotel Management, N.Y., 1927, vol. xii., No. 5 ; Harry Prince, "Guest Bed Rooms and Bath," Hotel Management, N.Y., 1927, vol. xii., No. 6 ; Taylor Prince, Hotel Plan ning and Outfitting, Pick and Company, Chicago, 1928. (H. PR.)