One large and famous New York hostelry was recently stuck for a huge settlement when a perfectly respectable married couple from the suburbs, caught in town over night, phoned for a room. They were told to come right over. When the room clerk saw no baggage, he refused to permit them to register, though they offered to pay in advance. The irate husband insisted the lady was his wife, but the clerk turned up his nose. Later, the guests' attorneys proved to the management that it was costly to make such mistakes. Before the war, many hotels operated OVERNIGHT CLUBS for their special guests, and by the time this appears in print, may be doing so again. The privileges of these clubs included the right to check in at any hour of the day or night, with or without your wife, and without questions if you possessed no baggage other than the girl. In that event, the hotel supplied pajamas, toothbrush, Kleenex, razor blades, etc., as well as feminine requisites, even intimate ones. Among the hotels with Overnight Clubs were the Waldorf, the Lexington, the Piccadilly, Plymouth and some branches of the Knott Chain. Membership in these clubs was obtained by advance reference that could be checked or by being recommended by other members. Application to hotel credit managers will enable you to open a charge account at most hotels and have bills sent to your home or office, in or out of town. You can cash checks, too. * * * * * (INSIDE STUFF: It is a specific crime to obtain lodging or food in a hotel with intent to defraud.... But hotels are obligated by common and statute laws to serve all comers to their capacity.... Guests may not be barred because of race or creed or the cut of their clothes.... But hotels are not required to cater to intoxicated or disorderly persons.... Their Association will spend a fortune to track down anyone who swindles them out of a few dollars.) * * * * * Most New York inns are liberal, adult in their attitude toward visitors of the opposite sex, even at night. So long as you are quiet and orderly, and don't shout or keep your radio on too loud, the house dick probably won't bother you. There is even some doubt among legal experts here whether New York hotels have the right to throw customers out into the street for the mere offense of entertaining gals or guys--as the case may be--in their rooms, because they failed to stop off at Niagara Falls. * * * * * (INSIDE STUFF: If you permit someone--even of the same sex--to occupy your room all night, without first registering him or her in at the desk, the hotel can prosecute you for defrauding it of the extra tariff charged for two in a room.) * * * * * In 1945, the house detective of a West Side hotel catering to tourists and the family trade, busted into a room occupied by a female guest--redheaded--because he saw a soldier enter it.