 Why is the lack of hotel space important for Simon's story?
When Simon continued to say nothing she ventured, "Time travel is impossible." "Then you'll realize that there are a dozen explanations of the paradoxes of time travel. It's my contention that within a century or so man will have solved the problems of immortality and eternal youth, and it's also my suspicion that he will eventually be able to travel in time. "The usual explanation, Betty, is that they can't afford to allow the space-time continuum track to be altered. Simon said, "You want to hire me to find a time traveler and in some manner or other—any manner will do—exhort from him the secret of eternal life and youth, which you figure the future will have discovered.
 It set the stage for him to encounter an alien's home for himself.
 It made him cut his trip short without finding any time travelers.  Simon would have to learn how to time travel in order to keep his bag from being stolen.  It set the stage for him to encounter an alien's home for himself.  It meant he would find a number of unsavory characters as he tried to find somewhere to sleep.