Hotel Motel Operations: An Overview

188 Pages·2000·25.25 MB·English

by  Suzanne Weissinger

SUZANNE STEWART WEISSINGER
LODGINGS:
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I. Ancient History
Classic Greek and Roman Days
Bible References
II. Middle Ages
liT. Colonial Period
TV. Nineteenth Century
Spas and Resorts
Luxury Hotels
V. The Twentieth Century
Other Noteworthy Innkeepers
Tourist Courts
The Great Depression and World
War II
Advent of Air Travel
VI. The Industry Today
Alternative Lodging
Government Influence
Growth of the Industry
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
• Discuss the history of the lodging industry from ancient to modern
times.
• Describe the post roads and the taverns where George Washington slept
in his travels along the eastern coast of the United States.
• Cite the names of several famous people who influenced the hotel
industry.
• Discuss how the introduction of railroads, automobiles, and air travel
affected the lodging industry.
• Describe governmental influence on the lodging industry in the United
States and other countries.
• Understand the future trends of the industry.
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"GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE!"
So read the signs that hang above so many rooms, people wonder
if George ever slept at his beloved Mt. Vernon at all! The inns
where George Washington slept were scattered across the eastern
United States in small coastal cities and towns along the post
roads. These inns were called taverns, with public rooms on the
first floor and sleeping rooms above.
The heat from the open fireplace, the odors of the cooking
meat, the smoke, the wet leather, and the tobacco would engulf
an arriving guest. The Long planked wooden tables were all
crowded, not only with guests staying for the night, but also with
local people stopping by for a tankard of beer and a smoke. After
a few puffs the men would pass the long-stemmed clay pipe to a
compatriot who would break off the used end and have his
smoke. The boisterous voices of the guests competed with the
bellowing of the mistress of the inn telling a servant to stoke the
already blazing fire or to serve a guest.
The privy house was a scant 20 feet from the tavern. Upstairs
were two rooms each with four beds. Each bed slept at least three
people crosswise. Wooden hooks protruded from the walls for the
guests to hang clothes, though they slept with all but outer clothes
on. No candle would be sent up to the sleeping rooms, and after
dark, the tavern visitors would make do with the light of the open
fire. Surely, Washington would have been offered a room in the
family's private quarters.
Chapter 7 Lodgings: Yesterday and Today 3
ANCIENT HISTORY
CLASSIC GREEK AND ROMAN DAYS
Think of all the hospitality that you and J enjoyed from strangers
before we reached our homes . . . .
Though a myth, the travels of Odysseus, as recorded by Homer in
the Odyssey and the Jliad give insights into lodgings of those ancient
days. While roaming the Mediterranean his statement above shows
his appreciation of hospitable welcomes where he stayed.
In ancient Rome the inns were large mansions. Owners of these
inns would not allow guests to stay unless they carried a "letter of
eviction," which was permission to travel from government offi
cials. Similar inns existed along the famous Appian Way, and as
with the larger inns, the owners were often investigators for the
government.
The Romans, mostly legionnaires and civil officials, built monu
ments to their civilization throughout Britain and Europe in their ex
ploration and conquering expeditions. Most were built in beautiful
areas with natural springs. Their taverns were called "tabernas," and
the attached inn was called a "cauponas." In Bath, England, relics dat
ing from 54 still exist today.
A.D.
In early days in the Near East, caravans crossing vast deserts,
stopped at caravansaries. These were accommodations that sur
rounded large courtyards.
BIBLE REFERENCES
And she brought forth her first-horn son, and wrapped him in swad
dling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room
for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7.)
Certainly the most famous inn is the one in Bethlehem. The great
crowds reporting there to pay their taxes had overburdened the
lodging industry of that small town. This is not the only mention of
the hotel industry in the Bible. In the Old Testament we are told
about Jacob and his brother traveling in Judea, going to an inn, and
foddering their mounts. To these inns, travelers would bring their
own supplies. They are similar to khans, or rest houses, found in the
Middle East today.
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FIGURE 1-1
The Tabard Inn, featured in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, was a fine hostelry of
the 1300s in London.
MIDDLE AGES
Tn Southwark at that high-class hostelry known as the Tabard, close
beside The Bell ....
The famous storyteller Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales speaks of the
Tabard, a fine hostelry of the 1300s in London. As Chaucer relates, the
host of the Tabard decided to accompany the pilgrims on their jour
ney and listen to their stories. During the book, Chaucer tells of eat
ing table d'hote (a menu from which one may order a complete meal
at a set price) and settling their "reckoning" (hotel bill). The Savoy
Hotel in London has foundations believed to date from Chaucer's
time. Fourteenth-century innkeeping, as Chaucer describes it, sounds
as sophisticated in many ways as it is today.
The term hostelers, meaning "inn holders," was not used until1473.
The term may have come from the Old French word ostel. Gradually
"hostelers" shifted in meaning from "owner" of the inn to "inn-servant."
The his sometimes dropped to "ostler." The term hostel, meaning "inn,"
was not used until the 1800s. In modem usage hostels are accommoda
tions of lesser quality, and hostelers are guests who stay at hostels.
During the Crusades the hotel industry grew. The design was fairly
standard: The enclosed courtyard was surrounded by the kitchen, tav-
Chapter 7 Lodgings: Yesterday and Today 5
L
Punch
FIGURE 1-l
On their journey, Chaucer's pilgrims ate "table d'hote," which means they
ordered from a limited menu.
ern, and public rooms on the front facade. On each side, winging out
from the front, were the sleeping rooms. Along the back of the build
ing were the stables. Could this not be the forerunner of motels?
Park your horses and stay a night.
COLONIAL PERIOD
Public coach service was put into effect around 1650. The coaches ran
between major cities and stopped wherever passengers wanted, similar
to the way our bus lines operate today. Coach inns were built along the
routes primarily at points where teams of horses were changed. The
British use the term ordinary to describe such inns.
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The United States Postal Service, established in 1710, called its pri
mary routes between major towns along the Atlantic Coast post
roa.ds. With the establishment of these post roads, entrepreneurial
farmers converted their farm houses into inns. Passengers from the
coaches slept in the hostel's long room with their feet toward the fire.
The vignette "George Washington Slept Here/' in the opening para
graphs of this chapter, describes the inns and hostels of this era.
NINETEENTH CENTURY
The introduction of railroads had great influence on the hotel/motel
industry. In the early 1800s, as train tracks were laid throughout the
Western world, depot hotels began to arise. In most cases (as with the
Euston Station in London, built in 1830) the hotel was connected di
rectly to the train station. Similarly, think of the masses of hotels
around airports today with shuttle buses carrying passengers directly
to their lodgings. As early as the 1800s the transportation and lodg
ings industries could not be separated.
As Canadians laid train tracks across the vast North American con
tinent, they built magnificent hotels and resorts near the route. Le
Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, and Chateau
Lake Louise in Alberta are examples.
SPAS AND RESORTS
Spas, which are mineral springs or pools believed to be medicinal or
healthful, have been tourist sites since Roman days. Throughout the
world the advent of trains caused beautiful resorts to be built at these
sites. In 1830 Pennsylvania boasted that it was the first state to have
railway travel to its spas. However, the most famous spa in those days
was Saratoga Springs, New York. Advertised, and quite popular, were
Saratoga trunks that would accommodate all the clothes one needed
to spend a "season" at a resort.
Spas at Baden, Germanyi Marienbad, Bohemiai and Vichy, France,
which had been popular for centuries, became more accessible to the
public via rail. Resort areas such as the French Riviera became the
places to go. Niagara Fallsi the Greenbriar at White Sulfur Springs,
West Virginiai the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginiai and The Clois
ter at Sea Island, Georgia, are legendary resorts that still exist today.
Since the early 1900s, the Poconos and Catskills, Aspen and Vail, and
hundreds of other noted resort areas have sprung up.
Chapter 7 Lodgings: Yesterday and Today 7
FIGURE 1-3
A popular vacation in the early 1800s was a visit to a spa. To prepare for these
trips, immense Saratoga trunks were stuffed with everything "m'lady" could
possibly need for a season there.
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In 1841, Englishman Thomas Cook arranged his first tour.
Though it was a one-day train excursion, shortly thereafter he organ
ized overnight trips, booking multiple rooms at hotels for his clients.
Considered the first travel agent, by 1856 he was taking groups of
North Americans to hotels on his "Cook's Tour of Europe."
LUXURY HOTELS
Another benchmark for the hotel industry in the nineteenth century
was the opening of the Tremont Hotel in Boston. It was the first lux
ury hotel and boasted the first indoor toilets and the first private bed
rooms with locks on the doors. The Tremont also had a version of to
day's bellhop, then called a "rotunda man."
In 1889 the famous Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz became manager at
the Savoy in London. Eventually, he opened his own London Ritz and
subsequently opened famed luxury hotels in Paris, New York, and
other cities.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
A bed with a bath for a dollar and a half
This was the motto that led the hotel industry into the twentieth cen
tury. E.M. Statler opened his first hotel in Buffalo, New York, in 1907.
Individual rooms with private baths and Statler's ability to cater to
business travelers set this hotel apart. Statler's name is legendary in
the industry today.
OTHER NOTEWORTHY INNKEEPERS
Conrad Hilton, "King of the Innkeepers," also influenced this era.
Hilton, who had helped his family run a hotel in New Mexico, opened
his first hotel, the Mobley, in Texas in 1919. From there the Dallas
Hilton opened in 1925. Today the familiar Hilton name is seen in al
most every major city. In 1954, Hilton bought the Statler chain.
Statler-Hiltons are located in New York, Dallas, Washington, and
other cities.
Several other names also are legendary in the industry, among
them Howard Johnson,]. Williard Marriott, and Kemmons Wilson,
founder of Holiday Inns. Each founder has a unique success story, and
Chapter 7 Lodgings: Yesterday and Today 9
•
FIGURE 1-4
Conrad Hilton started his world renowned chain of hotels when he bought
the Mobley in Texas in 1919.
each chain has its own standards of hospitality that it has established
over the years.
TOURIST COURTS
The automobile led the hotel industry into a booming business in the
1920s. The term motel, coined from "motor hotel/' goes back to the
time when a farmer owning land along the major routes would build
wooden 10 foot by 10 foot cabins along the road in front of his prop
erty. A car could be pulled right up to the cabin, where a traveler could
spend the evening. The owners of these motels soon expanded to,
perhaps, 15 cabins. These were called tourist courts. These businesses
proved profitable during the free economy of the 1920s. Compare
tourist courts with the huge motor inns that border the interstate
highways of today.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND WORLD WAR II
The 1930s saw the Great Depression and a setback for the lodging in
dustry. Many smaller motels went bankrupt. The industry did not re
cover until the war years.
During World War II, thousands of people, both military and
civilian, traveled throughout the United States. There were troops be
ing transported, workers going to various war factories, and families