Of the character and management of the inns of England, with their offers of " enter tainment to man and horse," we are favored with innumerable glimpses in the fictions of Fielding, Smollett, Goldsmith, and others—the jolly hostess, the obsequious waiters, the bouncing chambermaids, the hostler who takes the traveler's nag, and above all the garrulous host, who, when invited, gives his company to his guests, tells them the news, and at dinner, according to use and wont, places the first dish on the table. See Dr. Syntax's Tour in Search of the Picturesque, illustrated by Rowlandson, for some humor ous delineations of inn-usages. The great personal comfort and independence of feel ing enjoyed in English inns is frequently referred to in literature. Archbishop Leigh ton, who died in 1684, in the Bel, Warwick Lane, " often used to say, that if lie were to choose a place to die in, it should be an inn; it looking like a pilgrim's home, to whom this world was all as an inn, and who was weary of the noise and confusion of it. And lie obtained what be desired."—Burnet's Own Times. Dr. Samuel Johnson, as is well known, expatiates on the delights of an English inn; on one occasion, as related by Boswell, repeating with great emotion Shenstone's Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round, • Where'er his stages may have been, May sigh to think lie still has found The warmest welcome at an inn.
English inns have not lost their reputation for comfort and the attention paid to guests; but the almost entire alteration in the methods of traveling by the introduction of railways has left them considerably behind the requirements of the age. Except in the smaller towns and villages, they have been superseded by hotels—that is, houses of a more pretentious kind. The better classes of these hotels contain private parlors for families or individuals who choose to be alone, also a large apartment for travelers generally. Houses frequented by commercial travelers have a room set apart for this class of customers. The plan of taking meals at a has not hitherto made much progress in England, as if it were somehow contrary to the national reserve and exclusiveness. The marked defect in the modern hotels in London and elsewhere in England consists in their insufficient size. The greater number are merely private houses transformed for the purpose, and are inadequate to meet the swollen dimensions of railway traffic. The truth is, the establishment of inns or hotels in any part of Great Britain has not hitherto been looked to as a profitable investment for a large capital. The business of innkeeping has been thought a little derogatory, and few except old waiters, who had realized some money by their services, embarked in the business. On the continent of Europe. the trade of hotel-keeping enjoys a considerably higher social status. A large capital is invested, the keeper or manager is a man of local note, and the waiters or garcons are young men who follow the business as a profession in which they expect to rise by their diligence and acquirements. In point of fact, the garcon is muck above the English waiter in his aims. He voluntarily undergoes a kind of curric ulum of education, by passing from the hotels of one country to those of another, and does not consider himself proficient till he speaks German, French, Italian, and Eng lish; at the very least, if of German birth, speaking French with fluency. Some good
and capacious hotels, built distinctly as such, have lately been established at the princi pal railway termini in Loudon, also at Dover and a few other places. With these exceptions, most English hotels are far behind the high-class hotels of the continent; such as the Grand Hotel and the Mitel de Louvre at Paris, the Jletropole at Geneva, and some of the fine establishments at Hamburg. London is now gradually becoming better supplied. The L'ustou, the Victoria, the Grosvenor, the Paddington, the Charing Cross, the Midland (all connected with railway termini); the Alexandra, the Palace, the Inns of Court, and the Langkam arc exceedingly well-appoihted hotels.
In England the hotel system of living is simply that of paying for what is called for, with the addition of a certain charge per diem for the rooms which are occupied; in France and other continental countries, this plan is so far modified by the plan of dining at a table d'hole, which lessens the general expenses. Both in English and con tinental hotels, the charge for attendance is now made explicitly in the bill, a very grateful improvement. The ordinary hotels in all parts of the United Kingdom are licensed by magistrates to sell wines, spirits, and other excisable liquors, and therefore come tinder the category of public-houses open to the supervision of the police. In the higher-class hotels, however, the supply of liquors is confined to the resident guests; and it is only in the others that drink is sold as in taverns. See TAVERN. Latterly, there has sprung up a class of houses, some of them on a considerable scale, known as temperance hotels, which have no license, and do not supply any exrcisable liquors. See TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
Throughout the United States of America, the system of hotels has taken a peculiar turn. The hotels are built for the purpose, and usually very large; with few exceptions they are conducted as boarding-houses on the plan of charging so much per diem, everything included excepting liquor, which is obtainable in a large drinking-room called the bar. A common charge is about 10s. 6d. sterling a day. All the meals are given with liberal profusion in the table-d'hOte fashion; and as absence from these entertainments—to dine with a friend, for example—makes no difference of charge, the system, though simple and adapted to a constant flow of customers, is not without its disadvantages. Elegant in their architecture, and spacious and commodious in their interior arrangements, the American hotels are got up at great expense, as may be judged from their extensive accommodation, which ranges from 180 to 800 rooms. The Astor house, the St. .ille1iota8, and the Metropolitan, at. New York, are among the largest and most splendid of these establishments. The system of American hotels is generally followed in the British colonies.