X HOSPITMITY :4 ^7M f'- Hotel Virginia Long Beach California Class __/ll45__ Book L S /-I9 (i)IpgiitN»_LSlV COn'RIGHT DEPOSn^ r/r/j w No. of an edition limited to one thousand copies. Hospitality by Sherley Hunter 'T^HE knowledge that another has felt as we have felt, and seen things, even if they are little things, not much otherwise than we have seen them, will continue to the end to be one of life's choicest pleasures." ROADS— Robert Louis Stevenson DEC 28-1914 ©CU39117,j '^1 Hospitality I DO not know very much about this subject of Hospitality for I have had so little experience with it, with the kind of real hospi- tality that I have been seeking throughout the realm of Baedeker for. HOSPITALITY Maybe it is because I am a nomad, a travel-banged and scarred bag, ever on its way, ever crammed with the same experience-luggage. You, who have your homes in warm hearted Kentucky or "By Gum" New Hampshire or self-cent- ered New York way, may be perfect- ly familiar with the real meaning of hospitality. But I swear I am not, just a ''humming along" Hadji am I. "A-roving, a-roving, I am ever on the go. Of real commercial hospitality there is little that I know." Have I ever stopped at Brighton? HOSPITALITY Yes, just a metropolitan spa, with everything just so and nothing more. You lock your heart up in your bag and start out to be stared at. And I know the luxurious cara- vansaries of the Strand, all ref riger- atored. And the affected *'charm" of Tor- quay. Aquaed at Carlsbad and dug deeply in response to the cute ca- resses of hospitalite of Paris and stove off the Luxus Palast of Berlin. I have sought, and, know but lit- tle of real hospitality. Nor am I hard to please. When one travels some he knows better HOSPITALITY than to be exacting. It proves ex- pensive in the long run, you never gain your points; peace and relaxed temperament are sacrificed. Dole out your jitney, thin-one, two-ie and smile at what is handed you. 'Tis the easier way. HAT is real hospitality? How do I define it? There are many ways. He who knows his Greek mythology I will say it is the key of Janus, the key that opens and closes all good things. To him who just knows his Yank- ee-doodle I will say it is the hand of welcome of the mother you have not HOSPITALITY seen for ten years. The smile-ex- pression on her dear old face. The rest of the folks waiting to greet you. The gladsome bark of Towser. The old postman who recognizes you as he drops your belated letter, ''Why, hello Will, how are you?" There is no dodging real hospi- tality when it comes to you. And real hospitality never waits for you. It anticipates your wants, goes them one better, and then retires and leaves you to yourself. You never have to pay in advance for real hospitality. Sometimes, quite often, it becomes silently indignant at the proffered tip. HOSPITALITY Real hospitality is in love with its duties. It tries to outdo itself and al- ways succeeds. Busy, or in relaxation, it always comes to you on time, always tries to please you your way. Real hospitality always makes one want to reciprocate. You are afraid you are putting real hospitality out, and it only smiles in return. The make-up of real hospitality is simple. Just sincere, tireless effort to make others contented, cheerie, and glad they are alive, and a for- getfulness of self. It is the same whether it sinks its HOSPITALITY impression on your memory in a humble home or in the elegantly appointed hotel of a great metrop- olis. Only you seldom find it in hotels. When you do, the bill always seems trivial in comparison to the accommodations you receive. IF you will not think it an adver- tisement, I will tell you where such a hotel is. Maybe you will want to go there sometime and taste of my brand of real hospitality. It is in California, not far from the San Diego exposition; an hour's ride from mountains crowned with HOSPITALITY snow, fragrant orange groves, the peal of Spanish mission bells, bub- bling oil fields, alfalfa ranches that yield four crops a year, roses that bloom out doors the year around, and the city of Los Angeles which stands over a city of a civilization twenty thousand years old — long be- fore the civilization of Egypt and her Rameses, before Moses. (What do you know about that for a new West?) All sounds like an advertisement for a real estate concern, does it not? Out over the white tipped, blue Pacific you can glimpse the great ships plowing along the new world HOSPITALITY route that cuts the American hem- isphere in two at Panama. It is called Hotel Virginia. A fire-proofed steel structure of con- crete built in the form of a letter H, so that all of its rooms have an out- side exposure to the restful rumble of the rolling surf. And this letter H stands for Hos- pitality from the moment a clean- cut, clear-eyed young chap assists you with your baggage to the genu- ine note of regret in his voice as he says ''Good bye, sir," and helps you into a taxicab for your twenty mile to Pasadena on an asphalt drive HOSPITALITY that begins at the entrance of the Virginia. Even the vine hugged big win- dows and the gardens of blumen give you a hint of the Virginia's personality as you start to make your first entrance. You begin to relax for content- ment before you reach the register, and the secretary stifles your last suspicion. No, he is not a clerk. He is a sure enough secretary minus the slippery smile and suave ''once- over.'' Somehow, though you cannot tell how, it is all in a tone of welcome unordinary. HOSPITALITY There is nothing that smacks of the chilly morgue. Flunkism is nil. *'We are your friends, your inter- ests are ours because our service consists in trying to please folks so they will come back," is the message of the lobby, with its mammoth pil- lars and easy chairs — a hundred pixies whisper it everywhere. If there are women folks with you, they are not embarrassed by stares and leers and remarks behind highly manicured finger- nailed hands. Everyone seems to respect every- one else at the Virginia. HOSPITALITY (Now you know this is not an advertisement. For what advertis- ing man would notice that?) Up in your big room, and a man can get anything he wants at the Virginia, you find large closets and bathroom, high ceilings, sound- proof walls. And such a bed and variety of resty chairs! Generous rooms that forget nothing and add some surprises into the bargain. There are no bell-boys at the Vir- ginia. They are attendants who seem to listen at the key-hole of your wishes. I truly believe they brag to one another at the day's end of HOSPITALITY how much they have done for their guests. The Virginia way is truly the Virginia way. Without annoying you, folks suggest ways to make your stay more comfy; actually plan ways to serve you more. I would not call the attitude there courtesy, but rather a kindly, warm, human desire to be hospitable. The first time I stopped I was almost afraid to offer a tip. Can you imaging it? No one seemed to ex- pect it. No one really expects it. Every one received one, however, before I left, you can rest assured of that. HOSPITALITY Oh, yes, I have not told you the city where the Hotel Virginia is located. Long Beach is the place. Long Beach, California. Paradoxical to you perhaps, but Long Beach is cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the interior towns. The hotel, while it is along the beach and in the city, has its own private bathing frontage and dress- ing rooms for the guests. There are a dozen lovely little spots out-country, if you wish to go horse-back riding. In winter, arrangements can be made for the guests to enjoy duck- HOSPITALITY shooting opportunities at the pre- serves in the marshes not far from the city. Those who wish quiet and repose enjoy the glassed-in verandah pro- tected from the sea breeze. The Virginia is a social center during the year 'round. Hardly a week passes but what a night finds the great dining room with its mon- ster sea-looking windows ablaze with banquet lights for the enter- tainment of notable visitors to South- ern California. Both winter and summer, there are private tennis courts, sun-shined, for the guests. Here every year the HOSPITALITY Southern California championship tournament in all classes is held, and also the Pacific Coast cham- pionship match for men's doubles. 'What about golf?" do I hear you say. Well, give heed to this. The guests of Hotel Virginia are ac- corded the privileges of the Virginia Country club course, five miles away, where you are taken by auto- mobile to the prettiest links in the Southwest. A course that has the only water hazard in the world — a water-drive that will appeal to the skill of amateur or professional. And if you like to skim the blue HOSPITALITY beneath the filled-out-sail, the Vir- ginia Yacht Regatta is the most important on the Southern coast. Take this as you will, an adver- tisement or merely a privilege to write you about a unique hotel and my find of real hospitality, investi- gate it more, it is to your advantage not mine. I am a Virginian. I believe in passing a good word along. I believe the Hotel Virginia de- serves it. I believe you will be glad I have when you go there. Press of Young & McCalHster, Inc. IyOs Angeles LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 017 168 851 6 #