Poor St Pancras hotel embodied the contempt of modernism for anything old, stylish, romantic and, above all, Victorian.
But in poor countries, global hotel chains offer some of the best jobs around.
Spare a thought for the poor Japanese love hotel managers today - lovers will be flocking in vast numbers to these illicit bolt holes to get a little privacy and possibly a little horizontal tango.
Think of the poor cleaners, couriers, hotel staff, shop-fitters, doormen, those rickshaw drivers.
According to biographers Stach and James Hawes, around 1920 Kafka was engaged a third time, to Julie Wohryzek, a poor and uneducated hotel chambermaid.
The opportunities I missed out on to earn frequent-flyer points; the wrong airlines I flew which meant I failed to requalify for higher élite status on my preferred carriers; the poor choices of hotels I made; even those occasions when I stupidly opted for the dreaded pre-pay fuel option and ended up giving the car rental company back half a tank of petrol – a particular irritation.
Other reported reaction in Mbarara town was limited to an increase in the price of Jik, from 1,500 to 2,000 Uganda shillings (US$0.85 to US$1.15) per bottle, people avoiding shaking hands and hugging, and poor business at hotels and kiosks.
IF, like me, you have been complaining about unusually poor Internet service in hotel rooms lately, the hotels have a good explanation.
Development of the industry, which had been handicapped by the limited number of hotel beds, poor communications, and the few alternative attractions, has expanded with privatization, contributing to an increase in tourist arrivals.
