FROM FIVE SHILLINGS TO FORTY GUINEAS A NIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 173, 14 August 1909, Page 3

FROM FIVE SHILLINGS TO FORTY GUINEAS A NIGHT.

ROOMS IX LONDON'S BEST HOTELS.

'. There are not a few people under the impression that to stay for a night at one of the principal V'.'esl-end hotels .' necessarily means an expenditure run- ' uiug into pounds. This is quite er- . roneous, for one can have a bedroom ' at the Cecil for as low as as, at the IjMetropolu o,- Grand for 6s, at Prince's ; j for 0s lid, or at the Piccadilly, Clnridge's ' or the ltitz for half a guinea. At the same time, of course, those with luxurious tastes and a desire to spend money can easily get rid of many tunes this amount for a single night's lodging if they wish to do so. Give your orders, and the hotel proprietor will furnish you with whatever you require. At the Savoy, for a nigh!., you j can get a single bedroom for 12s (id, but you can also pay as unn-li as seven guineas for one bedroom and sittingroom, or twenty guineas' for a suite of live rooms. £SOU A DAY. For a similar »uite over double that pi ice is occasionally paid at leading hotels, when visitors have required extra furniture, decorations, etc. And :t is interesting to note that these pri- i vate suites are just like Hats, having ' their own entrance door and internal lobby. Taking the average cost of hotel lodging, it does' not seem expensive when the cost of upkeep of the hotels is considered. The daily expenses of the Savoy, for instance, amount to about £SOO, or £3500 a week. At the Carlton something like £ISOO a year is paid for flowers, while merely to overhaul the silver costs £BOO annually. For each chair in the Carlton dining-room four guineas was paid, while the carpet in the Palm Court cost £4OO, and the one in the restaurant £3OO. MILLION POUND HOTELS. The St. Regis Hotel, Fifth Avenue, New York, cost £1200,000, and the Hotel Belmont is another million-pound hotel. The St. Regis has been called the home for millionaires. There is nothing under 25s a day, while the state suite—two bedrooms, bathroom, diningroom, reception-room, salon, and library —costs £25 a day. Add £lO a day for meals, and it will be seen that close upon £13,000 a year will be swallowed up in living for a twelvemonth in the state suite of the St. Regis. At the Ansonia Hotel, New York, said to be the largest in the world—it contains 2500 rooms, with 340 distinct suites aboveground a bedroom, with bathroom, can be had for 10s a day; or you can pay £2O or £25 for a suite. Americans dearly love living in hotels, and it is estimated that the latter accommodate 200,000 rich Americans all the vcar round.