AWDC Chapter 48

Chapter 48: The Hotel

Once my engagement to Margarita was decided, the lord brought up a new issue.

“My daughter’s wedding will require us to invite many guests. However, the manor is too small to accommodate them all. Does anyone have a good idea?”

A noble’s manor should naturally have over a dozen guest rooms, but the Robertson family only had three.

This made it impossible to invite a large number of guests to the wedding.

“In that case, we should build a hotel in the village.”

“A hotel? What is that?” Both the lord and Roy seemed puzzled.

The concept of a hotel didn’t exist in this world. In the first place, there was no concept of tourism, and no real idea of traveling for leisure.

Those who traveled around were merchants, and occasionally administrators or church officials visited various places. Naturally, there were no tourists, so inns were mostly for traveling merchants.

I explained that a luxury hotel wasn’t just for lodging and dining, but also a venue for various parties and banquets. I added that if we built VIP rooms, nobles could also stay there.

“We’ll build the hotel in the village, and then have merchants manage it.”

I intended to build the hotel in the village and then leave the management to merchants. This was essentially private management. If the lord (or the village) managed the hotel, it wouldn’t go well. It would be more profitable for private citizens to use their knowledge to run the hotel. That was my idea.

If the lord forced himself to expand the manor or build a guesthouse just for his only daughter’s wedding, it would become useless after the guests left. A hotel, on the other hand, could be used as accommodation for people coming from outside the village even after the wedding. Even if all the rooms weren’t filled, the building could be maintained as a hotel.

The lord thought about holding his only daughter Margarita’s wedding on a grand scale, even if it meant stretching himself a bit.

The Robertson family, as the lord of a poor, rural village, had been cutting back on social expenses. Therefore, they were considered a family with poor connections among the nobility, and they hadn’t attended many weddings or other events.

Now, for his daughter’s wedding, he had invited almost all the nobles from the southern border region.

“It seems the Robertson family has become quite wealthy from selling paper.”

“Ah, I never thought I’d receive an invitation to a wedding reception from a family with whom we barely have any contact.”

Even though they had few connections, nobles who wanted to show off wouldn’t decline an invitation without a good reason.

“I wonder if they’ll have an austere wedding since they’re a poor family.”

“Will they serve potatoes at the meal?”

“It’s his daughter’s wedding. Surely they wouldn’t serve something like potatoes.”

Such derisive laughter arose.

The lord was trying to prove them wrong.

Construction of the hotel began immediately. With the cooperation of Tom and Ladapole, I developed one new facility after another.

Tom mobilized all his apprentices, and even gathered carpenters from the village and surrounding areas. In this world, or at least in this area, the construction was mostly left to the carpenters.

In modern Japan, construction begins after listening to the customer’s requests (such as the layout), drawing up plans, and obtaining the customer’s approval. But here, once the size of the house and the number of rooms are decided, everything else is left to the carpenters. In cases of urgency or large buildings, it’s enough to gather many carpenters. The entrance, the main hall, and the VIP rooms were almost identical to those of a baron’s manor, only larger.

At this time, the rail carriage was very useful for transporting materials. The building materials that arrived at the port on the Mulan River were transported to the construction site by rail carriage. A large amount of stone materials were also brought in from the quarry found during the construction of the reservoir in the desert. It could be said that the improved convenience of this transportation was a factor in the quick construction of the hotel.

Here, a hotel with 100 rooms, a large hall, a large dining room, VIP rooms, and a banquet hall was built.

The hotel opened for business even before the wedding and began to be used by merchants.

I listened to the customers’ feedback and tried to identify the problems with the hotel.

The merchants had already noticed the village’s prosperity and were gathering from all over to seek business opportunities.

They were looking to buy paper and axles, sell building materials such as lumber and bricks, and also find opportunities to open new stores.

The lord consulted with Labos and brought in someone with experience in running inns from the capital to manage the hotel.

Incidentally, at this point, Labos had become the village’s official merchant. It wasn’t formal, but he was consulted for advice on business and other matters whenever necessary.

The lord had them start business early, partly as training for the employees, and also to check for problems.

The prices were high for accommodations in this country, but the merchants were satisfied with the hotel’s structure and other aspects.

“Thanks to this hotel, we can come to buy and sell with peace of mind.”

What was especially popular was the fact that the guest rooms had locks.

Locks existed in this world, but the craftsmanship was poor. I explained the mechanism of the rotary lock, and Ladapole improved upon it and created it. I truly thought Ladapole was very skilled.

By attaching locks to each guest room, they highly valued the hotel’s security.

Theft was quite common in general inns. The merchants who stayed there couldn’t relax because of this.

The elimination of the risk of their rooms being ransacked was the greatest joy for the merchants.

However, there were many harsh criticisms of the hotel employees’ service. This was naturally expected. After all, the employees were recruited from farmers in the village and surrounding areas, and they had never dealt with hotel guests before.

For me, these complaints were a good lesson. Together with the hotel manager, I re-educated the employees, using it as a rehearsal for the wedding guests.

The wedding guests included Earl Milona, a powerful figure from the southern states, and almost all of the neighboring nobles, easily exceeding 200 people.

Those nobles stayed at the hotel even before the wedding and used the facilities.

“I never thought something like this would be built in Toriholi Village.”

“The rooms are clean, and the furnishings are stylish.”

“The alcohol and food are also delicious.”

“Most of all, I like how bright everything is.”

The hotel’s lighting was all lamps, and the windows were made of glass, so it was bright.

In this country, lamps were not yet widespread, with most lighting being candles.

The manufacturing technology of plate glass was also immature, and it was not mass-produced. Generally, windows were made of wooden boards, and sunlight didn’t enter the rooms, making them dim.

Window glass was used only sparingly even in palaces and the residences of high-ranking nobles, and it was still difficult for many nobles to obtain.

Therefore, they were looking around in surprise at the abundant use of lamps and window glass.

Many nobles came with their families, bringing their wives and unmarried sons and daughters.

For those young people, attending the wedding of another family was a good opportunity to find a partner.

Therefore, the party held in the hotel’s main hall was their greatest enjoyment.

Decorating that main hall was a chandelier that shone with glass and a large mirror that reflected its light.

The chandelier and mirror were also made by me and Ladapole to match the hotel’s architecture.

We had been refining the glass-making technology for many years, ever since lamps were needed for the tunnel construction.

This time, we put it to use to create plate glass, a chandelier, and a large mirror.

“This is smaller in scale, but it’s even more magnificent than the banquet halls in the capital.”

Certainly, it was smaller in scale than those in the capital’s palaces and noble residences. However, the chandelier on the ceiling and the large mirror on the wall made the room appear larger and brighter.

The wedding reception, which was already festive, was made even more exhilarating for the guests by the hotel’s facilities.

Riding the music played by the band brought in from the capital, the dressed-up nobles eagerly joined the dance circle.

The young people took turns dancing with different partners, while the parents chatted warmly around them, watching over them.

And after dancing and drinking until they were tired, the nobles would be impressed again when they returned to their rooms.

Their privacy was protected by the locks on the guest rooms.

Even those who often had the opportunity to stay in other nobles’ residences still felt uneasy in someone else’s home.

But with just a lock, they could refuse entry to others and sleep without worrying about being spied on.

“This is reassuring.”

The nobles were satisfied with the hotel’s security.