He either lives in a public
room - called a coffee-room - and there occupies, during his
comfortless meal, a
Separate small table, too frequently removed
from fire and light, though generally exposed to draughts, or else
he indulges in the luxury of a private sitting-room, and endeavors
to find solace on an old horse-hair sofa, at the cost of seven
shillings a day. His bed-room is not so arranged that he can use it
as a sitting-room. Under either phase of life he can rarely find
himself comfortable, and therefore he lives as little at a hotel as
the circumstances of his business or of his pleasure will allow. I
do not think that any of the requisites of a good inn are habitually
to be found in perfection at our Kings' Heads and White Horses,
though the falling off is not so lamentably distressing as it
sometimes is in other countries. The bed-rooms are dingy rather
than dirty. Extra payment to servants will generally produce a tub
of cold water. The food is never good, but it is usually eatable,
and you may have it when you please. The wines are almost always
bad, but the traveler can fall back upon beer. The attendance is
good, provided always that the payment for it is liberal. The cost
is generally too high, and unfortunately grows larger and larger
from year to year. Smiling faces are out of the question unless
specially paid for; and as to that matter of foul smells, there is
often room for improvement.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 449 of 531
Words from 120186 to 120457
of 142339
