The Secret Life of Hotels: Sex, Crime and Protest in British Guest Houses Since 1981

In her peer-reviewed study The Secret Life of the Hotel: Sex, Crime and Protest in British Guesthouses Since 1981 (from Bloomsbury Academic) Eloise Moss presents a bleak and unflattering picture of the hidden side of British life. She recalls that racism was common in the early 20th century, documenting the incident of the refusal to receive the black actor and singer Paul Robeson at the famous Savoy Hotel in 1929. It reveals that hotels constituted dangerous environments for cleaning women, who faced serious risks of sexual assault and extremely poor working conditions. Although these places often hosted discreet love affairs, they were less welcoming to LGBT customers, to the point that in 1976 the English Tourism Board refused to include a hotel near Littlehampton in its guide because it “welcomed gay people with open arms.” "The Secret Life of Hotels" is undoubtedly a book that opens eyes to a hidden history.