Yep. Back in those days, you could go into the hotel like the Copley, Ritz or Kenmore coffee shop, and order a cup of hot tea water [no tea bag], and get it for free. We would put ketchup in it, make a poor-man tomato soup ... and add a few saltines, that were always in a basket on the counter.
We were dirt poor college kids .... barely a step above a street urchin. Survivors of the urban jungle. Good times. :)