Life, 1926-04-01 · page 37 of 46
Life — April 1, 1926 — page 37: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **hotel chain advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Statler Hotels' service philosophy and value proposition to business travelers. The illustrated vignette shows a hotel clerk or manager attending to a guest's needs—depicting the promised customer service standard: employees empowered to resolve issues or escalate to supervisors who can. **Key advertising claims:** - Superior "value for money" compared to competitors - Service guarantee: every employee authorized to satisfy guests - Modern facilities (cafeterias, dining rooms, equipment) - Unusually low rates ($3-$6 per room depending on city) - Multiple locations (Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, New York, Pennsylvania) The text emphasizes that Statler differentiates itself through *employee empowerment*—staff trained to solve problems immediately or find someone with authority to do so. This was positioned as a competitive advantage in early-20th-century hospitality. The ad celebrates modern business hotel standards: standardized comfort, predictable service, and transparent pricing—concepts now routine but apparently noteworthy then.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE - 33 & ore for your money is a Statler policy have always meant to travelers is better values—in rooms, in food, in service, in comfort. Just compare Statler values and prices with those of other first-class hotels. And then in service: you are promised com- plete satisfaction in every transaction, and every employee is under permanent orders to. satisfy you when he is serving you —or, if he can’t do so, to get his superior on the job at once. The theory behind that practice is, of course, that every employee is to go to the limit of his authority to please you; and if he fails to please you, he is to get someone who can and will someone with more authority. NE THING these hotels ” to the more elaborate dining-rooms which you expect in a first-class hotel. And in any and every case you get comfort, convenience, all the advantages of the most modern construction and equipment. You get, in short, more for your money. P 1 Another thing that counts q Fy es are ally y, in comparison with you is the completeness Rates are unusually low, in comparisc 2 . with those of other first-class hotels: of these hotels’ facilities—the Rates are from $3 in Cleveland, Detrovt \ . variety from which you may choose. Each of them has, for instance, a cafeteria or a lunch- counter (or both), in addition Boston's Hotel Statler is Building: A new Hotel Statler isunder construction in the Park Square District of Boston— to be opened late this year, with 1300 rooms, 1300 baths. And an Office Building: Adjoining the hotel will the Statler Osice Build And Statler-Operated Hotel Pennsylvania~New York from $3.50 in Buffalo, and from $ For two people, these rooms ate eland and St. Louis, $5 in Detroit nd $6 in New York And remember that every The experienced traveler plans to be in a Statler over Sunday. Hotel Pennsylvania ‘New York The largesthotel in the world Drooms, 2200 baths. allthe comforts iences of other th the same policies comicbooks.com