A hotel plays its significant role in the society it betoken. It is a place where transients find interim reprieve from the exigencies of travel in a private room. It is also a confab place for locals who might recurrently engage in entertainments provided. Finally, a hotel might become a legend and landmark when they have built unique reputations.
The Waldorf Astoria in New York originated as two businesses the Waldorf and the Astoria built in 1893 and 1897. Two cousins competed jealously with in the denotation of a family feud. The Waldorf - Astoria that was opened in 1931 as one establishment became a landmark in its city and an likeness in the hospitality industry. It has hosted many illustrious people and even departments of the US government.
It is famous, for the many notable residents that it has hosted and for its famous ' Waldorf salad '. Perhaps more significantly it made a contribution to feminism by becoming a place where single women could meet without seeming improper. This was a deliberate decision of management and shows something of the interplay between management and its influence on society.
Another celebrated American establishment is the Plaza which was built in 1907. It was so elegant and extravagant that it became associated with the notion of the ' American Dream '. The quotation, ' Nothing ever happens at the Plaza ', illustrates the way that it features in literary history. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some astonishingly brilliant prose about a party that happened at the Plaza in his novel, ' The Great Gatsby '. The Plaza was the setting for intense psychological heat that can build between people in an enclosed space, fumed by whiskey wrapped in a newspaper.
The Raffles Beijing has a most dramatic recent history. As the Qing dynasty drew to its close at the beginning of the twentieth century two Frenchmen established a small restaurant which they named the Peking. In that colonial era there was strong European influence in China and the establishment began to host foreign dignitaries and delegations.
After the end of the First World War a brief period of euphoria lifted spirits throughout the world. The Peking hosted glittering rooftop parties and guests danced and laughed gaily oblivious of the grim times to come. The rooftops of beautiful buildings peeped through tree tops that clustered around the Forbidden City and the place enjoyed fame and fortune. It was frequented by foreigners, and particularly Europeans who often felt themselves superior to everyone else.
Somehow the business survived the political and social upheavals that occurred from the 1930s to the 1970s despite many narrow escapes and threatening times. It became a centre for the invading Japanese army at one point, and a bureaucratic building during the darkest days of political ideology. With China now once again a leading world power the Raffles Beijing functions once more as a social centre of excellence foreign and local guests.
Just as legendary hotels have their place in world history, so much more humble establishments have their simple stories. Some survive precariously now hosting fewer guests that they did in their hey days. Nevertheless, each hotel has it famous guests and anecdotes proudly displayed as evidence of its social significance.
