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[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

What ho, all. Another practical question here. Sorry to be so full of questions lately.

This is the question. If Jeeves were to be temporarily unemployed (by temporarily, I mean not more than a couple of weeks) and had to go and stay in a London hotel for a while, what sort of establishment would someone of his 'class' stay?

I know that Jeeves, while far from being as wealthy as Bertie, of course, was pretty well-off - far from being poor, at least. In the stories and novels we get glimpses of him living the high life a little bit when off-duty - the plush Ganymede club, the cigars in Manhattan night clubs, etc. Well-off enough to pass himself off as a reasonably well-to-do gentleman, anyway.

So, would he stay at one of the higher-end places, or would prudence prompt him to choose something more along the lines of a smaller inn or guest house?

If you happen to know anything about 1920/1930s London, or happen to know the names of some places Jeeves might have stayed at that time, I'm all ears! I've researched the Great Western Hotel (now a Hilton) in Paddington, but I can't get a sense as to whether Jeeves might have considered it too extravagant.

By the way, for the purposes of the plot I'm developing, it has to be a hotel - he can't be staying with family or friends or anything like that - and it needs to be in London, though not necessarily Central London.

Be glad to hear any opinions! Pip pip!

Comments

[princesshannah4.livejournal.com]

On first instinct I'd go with the modest-establishment theory, although further thinking prompts me to wonder if he wouldn't mind living it up if it was just for a few days. As you said, he could certainly pass for someone above his station if he needed to.

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's what I was thinking. If it was only for a week, perhaps he'd treat himself.

Hmm. The difficulty is, there's so much information about the big ritzy places in London at that time, but I can't get much information as to what the more modest establishments would have been like.

Here's an idea - I could just make something up. Sigh. I wish I didn't have this burning need to be as historically accurate as possible!

[princesshannah4.livejournal.com]

Well, if there's a low availability of information on what you're looking for, I'd say the likelihood is low that any of the rest of us know much about it anyway and any historical inaccuracies would fly quite silently over our heads.

In other words, I think it's okay to go ahead and make something up ;D

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think you're right. After all, it's what Plum would do.

[hazeltea.livejournal.com]

I think he'd go for modest but comfortable, especially if he was out of work. He might aspire to live like a gentleman, but he's not a snob at all.

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

I've never been able to make up my mind whether Jeeves is snobby or not, actually! In the Indian Summer of an Uncle he refers to Mrs. Wilberforce as a woman 'of the people' in one scene, then later reproaches Bertie for drawing attention to this, instead bolstering her to 'sturdy lower-middle class stock'. That might mean that he's a bit torn on the subject, but I think the truth is that can move quite easily in all circles, and adapts according to the situation.

Anyway, I think you're right. I can't imagine Jeeves lodging in some sort of squallid hovel, but I think he's a bit too sensible to take the most lavish accomodations he can find.

That rules out Claridges or the Ritz, of course - but I imagine the Great Western would be in his league. Back to little details for more info, I think.

THanks for your views - it really helps to clarify things.

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I wonder if it would depend on why he's unemployed. Perhaps if he'd like to keep a low profile for one reason or another, he might stay at a very modest place. If he had no fears about being employed again, he might decide to treat that space of time as a kind of holiday and live it up just a bit. But I think you're right. He wouldn't stay at a very high end place, unless, of course, it's part of a ruse of some kind.

I'm sure this didn't help much! But I do like how you pose questions about what a character would do in certain situations rather than tossing canon aside and doing whatever strikes your fancy. This is why I like your stories and am always grateful to see another one.

Maybe you could google St. Margaret's Hotel. I think the place was going at the time you're looking at. It's around the corner from the British museum, and it's part of what looks like a connected row of hotels. It's a relatively modest place (but serves a great breakfast!) and might fit the bill if you're looking for that sort of hotel.

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion, and for the encouragement!

I have still two or three stories in the pipeline. When I get burned out on one I start on another. THey'll get done eventually!

I'll check out St Margaret's. I know London quite well to visit, but nothing about it's hotels! Perhaps I should look at a bunch of present day hotels and see if I can find out the history on them. If they are hotels now, the chances are they always have been - things don't change much in England. The Great Western, which I mentioned, is now a Hilton.

I try to be accurate, but I think I can probably afford to let up on that sort of thing a bit. When you read about Plum and the way he researched, it sounded to me as though he'd try to find out what he could, but didn't mind making things up a bit to make it fit with what he was already working on. I really admire that!

[kill-claudio.livejournal.com]

Another vote here for the modest-establishment option. I think it would depend largely on how certain Jeeves was of his future income. Considering how talented he is, I don't suppose he'd be worried about finding a job, but he strikes me as the cautious, prudent type who wouldn't be inclined to extravagance at just the moment his finances are least secure. I think it was 1911 that Lloyd George introduced unemployment benefit for the first time, so chances are Jeeves doesn't have much of a safety net.

Also, Jeeves might be well off in comparison to some of the very poor, but he's still leagues away from Bertie. Middle-class gentlemen's clubs were typically a lot more opulent than anywhere else they could go on their modest incomes, which was part of the appeal. Many of them allowed their members to stay there for a few nights, so perhaps Jeeves would do that? His club has the added advantage of being full of people of the same class and (probably) political identity, since that was how one chose one's club in the first place. Jeeves might feel a bit out of place in a posh hotel, unless he was pretending to be someone else. Class structures in early 20th century Britain were pretty rigid.

Sorry, I'm not sure any of that was very helpful. I think you could probably make either option work, depending on just how much you're going to hurt poor Jeeves. :-)

Ooh, and have you read this essay (http://innocentsmith.livejournal.com/9852.html) by innocentsmith? It doesn't have anything about hotels in it, but quite a lot about Jeeves, and I always find it useful.

[closetofheroes.livejournal.com]

I have read innocentsmith's essay, yes - and agree with almost all of it, I think. Jeeves is such a tricky one. I think the nature of his work makes it very hard to shelve him in one class - he's constantly among the upper classes, yet can't be 'one of them', strictly speaking - but on the other hand, his having to be almost an ambassador to the gentleman he is working for (perfectly well-spoken, impeccable tailoring, etc) must have made it hard at times to be fully at ease with the lower classes as well. It must have been a rather lonely position, having a career in domestic service.

I tend to argue a lot about Jeeves not being poor, because occassionally I come across this misconception that beneath the gentlemanly facade he's barely making ends meet and has known what it is to sleep in a doorway, which I just don't think is true. People just forget from time to time that there was such a think as a middle class. But I agree, Jeeves isn't likely to be extravagent when he's on his own. The more I think about it, I think while he's probably quite comfortable in ritzy places, since he'd have a lot of experience with them in his capacity as valet - he'd sooner seek out more middle class acccomodation when travelling under his own steam. I think Jeeves likes to partake of the privileges his employers enjoy, but at the same time he is so very proper, I think he'd consider it bad taste to take a posh room somewhere. On his holidays, now I come to think of it, he never went off to Paris or anywhere equally fashionable - it was always modest Bognor Regis or Herne Bay. So while I think Jeeves can adapt to the high life pretty easily, I agree he's stick with a more middle class accomodation.

I personally think Jeeves would have something of a safety net in the form of his personal savings. While working for Bertie I'm guessing that he doesn't have to pay for accommodation or food for himself, so his daily personal expenses must be pretty low. In Ring For Jeeves, he offered to work for Lord Rowcester without receiving any pay, which implies to me that he is provided with his basic necessities by his employer.

(I'm not sure how that worked, actually - did an employer pay for his valet's accomodations and dining and so on? It would seem unfair to expect him to stay in the same hotel as you in order to attend to your every need, but not pay for his room.)

Still, I imagine Jeeves can save most of what he earns, setting aside a portion for his annual vacation. He reads the financial papers, so that might indicate that he even invests some modest portion of his savings. I reckon he could probably get by for a few months at least without employment.

Anyway - all interesting stuff to think about. sorry for babbling!

[storyfan.livejournal.com]

I'm quite sure the employer foots the bill for everything, except for whatever the valet might spend on his evening off or holiday.

Here's why I think that was standard. A friend of mine just recently talked to a young woman who spent about 6 months as a paid companion to a lady who wanted to do some traveling. The young woman earned a salary and her plane tickets and hotel bills were paid by this woman's son who I would say was her employer rather than the lady. Her job was to accompany this lady wherever she wanted to go (Europe), see to train tickets, smooth any snags, etc. I can't believe people still have paid companions.

[derien.livejournal.com]

I also vote for the club for the first few days at least, as a money saver, because I can't see Jeeves being a spendthrift. :)

[derien.livejournal.com]

He would never ever try to pass himself off as above his station, so he'd definitely choose something like a tiny roominghouse run by a single old lady, with a narrow bed and a rag rug on the floor.

[the-maenad.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowton_Houses ?

[daisy-suzuki.livejournal.com]

Given your interest in historical accuracy, do get a copy of 'What the Butler Saw' by E. S. Turner (http://tinyurl.com/lgdc8b). It's a great read and goes over each of the domestic service roles of the 18th and 19th centuries in detail, as well as addressing contemporary accounts of various 'problems' related to the care and maintenance of domestic staff. It even comes highly recommended by PGW! And yes, I think Jeeves is mentioned directly about twice.

Re. hotels, I can see Jeeves at the Bonnington on Southampton Row, Bloomsbury. (It's now a Park Inn.) But if the Junior Ganymede has rooms (does it?), he might put up there.

[juliacarmen.livejournal.com]

Very late response, sorry, but I strongly agree with the Junior Ganymede idea. Clubs were rather hotel-like, and it's easy to believe the Junior Ganymede had rooms, seeing as valets need somewhere to stay while they're between positions.
Jeeves being at the JG has the advantage that the receptionist (or whatever they were called) can keep a list of people the members are 'not at home' to, and the receptionist would prob be a lot more difficult to bribe, so Jeeves could be harder to reach.