Hotels, Boarding-Houses, &c.

CENTRAL HOTEL (William Collie, proprietor)

COMMERCIAL HOTEL (James and John Watson, proprietors)

CORNISH’S TERMINUS HOTEL (T. Cornish, proprietor),

THE GRAND HOTEL (W. L. Philp, proprietor)

OBAN HOTEL (Roderick MacKenzie, proprietor)

RISING SUN HOTEL (William Henry Skitch, proprietor)

COFFEE PALACE (Charles Frederick Meyer, proprietor)

CENTRAL HOTEL (William Collie, proprietor), Princes Street, Dunedin; Bankers, Bank of Australasia. This well known hos­telry was established about 1875 as the Baldwin Hotel, under which designation it was known till 1886, when it was changed to its present name. There are thirty rooms, of which twenty-two are bedrooms. In the dining-room seats are provided for from forty to fifty guests. Two of Alcock’s best tables are available in the large and well-appointed billiard-room for lovers of the game. Since Mr. Collie took possession of the establishment in November 1897, con­siderable improvements and refurnishing have been effected. Of Scotch descent, both his parents being from Inverness, Mr. Collie was born in 1848 in County Clare, Ireland, and was educated in Victoria, whither he was taken at the age of ten years. He was brought up to the trade of a bookbinder, serving with the prominent firm of Messrs. George Robertson and Co., of Melbourne, for over thirteen years. He arrived in New Zealand in 1883 and was engaged by Messrs. Erskine and Whitmore of Invercargill, with whom he continued for upwards of ten years, becoming manager of their manufacturing department. In 1893, he took over the Park View Hotel in the same place, and about twelve months later became landlord of the Criterion Hotel, which house he left to take over the Central in Dunedin. He is a member of the Foresters Order, being attached to Court Star of the South, Invercargill. Mr. Collie was married in 1897 to a daughter of the late Mr. R. M. Clark, of Taranaki. and has two sons and three daughters.

COMMERCIAL HOTEL (James and John Watson, proprietors), High Street, Dunedin; Telephone 128; Post Office Box 100. This fine hotel, which was established by the present proprietors in 1874, is a brick build­ing of three stories. The “Commercial” was conducted by Messrs. Watson till October, 1883, when they entered into possession of the Grand Hotel, then just completed. The brothers were well known as proprietors of that splendid establishment for the succeeding ten years, when they again became landlords of the house they now conduct.

CORNISH’S TERMINUS HOTEL (T. Cornish, proprietor), Corner of Lower Rattray and Cumberland Streets (opposite the Triangle, Gardens, Railway Station, and Wharves), Dunedin; Telephone 578; Post Office Box 317. This splendid hostelry, which occupies a fine corner section, is three stories in height, and contains superior accommodation. On the ground floor are situated the bar, Dunedin jockey club-room, lavatories, kitchen, and other conveniences. The first floor contains private apartments, a large smoking-room, and a spacious dining-room capable of sitting some fifty persons, while the second floor is entirely devoted to bedrooms, sitting-rooms, drawing-rooms, and bath-rooms. The situation is one of the most convenient in Dunedin, and the menu is all that can be desired. The host is a native of Cornwall, England, having been born at Launceston in 1834. He came out to the Colonies in 1852, landing at Adelaide. South Australia, had some experience of life on the diggings, and for some time kept a hotel at Hawkesbury, Mt. Benger. At the time of the Gabriel’s Gully “rush” in the sixties he came to New Zealand, and has since been proprietor of several hotels in the city, viz., the old “Royal,” Walker street (till 1882), the London Hotel, corner of Princes and Jetty streets (till 1882), and the “Central,” Princes street (till May, 1897). The “Terminus.” though situated in a busy locality, is one of the quietest hotels in the city, and can be recommended as a decidedly first class house.

THE GRAND HOTEL (W. L. Philp, proprietor), Corner of Princes and High Streets, Dunedin; Telephone 100; P.O. Box, 98. This superior hostel, which cost over £40,000 and takes rank as one of the finest houses south of the line, occupies a commanding site in the business centre of the city of Dunedin. The building is erected in stone and concrete, and contains five floors, apart from the basement. The chief entrance to the hotel is from High street by splendid glass folding-doors, through which the visitor enters the magnificent central hall with its beautiful mosaic floor and decorated glass dome. From this central apartment the various rooms are entered. On the ground floor are the offices, public bar with entrance from Princes street, large commercial-room, which will accommodate one hundred per­sons, two luggage rooms, private bar, and a particularly large and comfortable smok­ing and writing room for the use of boarders, which is supplied with current literature. Ascending by the staircase, or if preferred by the powerful Otis elevator, which com­municates with the various floors of the house, a gallery surrounding the hall on the first floor is reached. The dining hall, a palatial apartment having tables conve­niently arranged down the sides and centre, will seat one hundred guests. On the panelling of the ceiling and the cornices of the walls are exquisite decorations, and when this noble room is fully laid for table d’hote at 6.30 p.m., it presents a really magnificent appearance. The serving pantry which opens into the dining hall, communicates by large sliding windows with the kitchen, where expert cooks superintend the cuisine. There is a large private writing and smok­ing room for the use of boarders only, and the drawing-room is a luxuriously furnished apartment, from the handsome plate glass windows of which complete views of the street traffic of the main thoroughfares of the city are obtainable. There are also three handsome suites including parlours and bedroom on this flat. The second and third floors contain a very large number of sleeping apartments, the appointments of which are elegant, easy chairs, couches and wardrobes forming part of the furniture in almost every room. On each floor there are two bath-rooms with hot and cold water and shower connections. Perhaps the most perfect part of this princely hotel is the base­ment, where the cellars are situated, with entrance from High street which affords in­gress and egress. There are two beer cellars and a very large wine cellar lit by gas and completely furnished with all appliances, in­cluding conveniences for bottle washing, hot and cold water being laid on as well as to every other part of the house. At the back of the building is a concrete yard, where a large concrete fountain has been con­structed, and there are also very fine lava­tories and closets for the use of boarders in the basement, the drainage of which and of the entire establishment is perfect and com­plete. The total number of rooms in the house is one hundred and ten, of which seventy-one are bedrooms. Altogether there can be no doubt that the appointments, the cuisine, and the general conduct of the •Grand Hotel, are on a scale which entitles the proprietor to claim a premier place among Australasian hotels. The host, Mr.Philp, has had many years’ experience in the managment of hotels, and it is not surprising that under his directions this pro­minent house should be so satisfactory no the local and travelling public.

OBAN HOTEL (Roderick MacKenzie, proprietor), Corner of Stuart Street and Octagon, Dunedin: Telephone 101; Bankers. Union Bank of Australia, Ltd. This is a very old established hostelry, the premises now occupied being a two-story brick build­ing with commodious cellarage. The house contains sixteen rooms, including six bed­rooms, four sitting-rooms and dining-room. The proprietor hails from the highlands of Scotland, where he was born in 1856. Mr. MacKenzie was brought up to agricultural and pastoral pursuits, and came out to Vic­toria in 1881, arriving in New Zealand three years later. Since settling in Otago, Mr. MacKenzie has been landlord of the Rising Sun Hotel for three and a half years, of the Caledonian Hotel for over a year, and purchased the Farmers’ Arms at Balclutha shortly before the passing of the prohi­bition vote. In 1894, Mr. MacKenzie en­tered into possession of the Oban Hotel. He is an enthusiastic member of the Caledonian society, of which he is a director and acts as a judge of dancing and bagpipe music. He is also a member of the Dunedin Gaelic society. As a member of the Order of Foresters, he is attached to Court Pride of Dunedin, and as a Mason he is a steward of Lodge Celtic No. 477, S.C. Mr. MacKenzie was married in 1889 to a daughter of Mr. T. Race, of Kaitangata, and has two sons and a daughter.

RISING SUN HOTEL (William Henry Skitch, proprietor). Walker Street, Dunedin. Bankers: Bank of New Zealand. This house is a two-story brick building, the freehold property of the proprietor, and was estab­lished about 1860, though the present build­ing was erected in 1879. Mr. Skitch has been the landlord since 1892. The hotel contains fourteen bedrooms, besides several sitting-rooms, and a dining-room which will seat twenty guests. Born in Bendigo in 1860, where also he was educated, Mr. Skitch came to Otago in 1872. He was apprenticed to Messrs. A. and T. Burt, Ltd., engineers, and after serving that firm for seven years he took possession of the West Coast Hotel, which he conducted till 1889. During the three years previous to entering into pos- session of the Rising Sun Hotel, Mr. Skitch made one or two visits to the Australian Colonies. He is a warm sportsman and is now in his second year as president of the Dunedin gun club, with which he has been connected from its foundation. He has been member of the Dunedin cricket club for many years and of which he is captain, and is a member of the committee of the Otago cricket association. He has acted as umpire in principal representative matches. He was member of the Dunedin Fire Brigade for five years and represented Dunedin in team com­petitions. He is well known throughout New Zealand as an athlete and as a winner of many valuable trophies in this and the other Colonies. He is also a member of the Caledonian society. Mr. Skitch was married in 1881 to a daughter of the late Mr. George Mariner, an old identity in Dunedin, and has two sons.

COFFEE PALACE (Charles Frederick Meyer, proprietor), Moray Place, Dunedin. P.O. Box, 196. Bankers: Bank of Australasia. This splendid private hotel was built by Mr. It. Hudson, J.P, in 1880. Mr. Meyer the present proprietor has been in occupation since 1891. The building is a handsome four-story brick structure. On the ground door on one side of the main entrance is the public luncheon-room, where lunch is served daily from 12 noon to 2 p.m., next to this is a large sample-room, then the kitchen and other offices situated at the rear of the premises. . A splendid dining-room with seating rapacity for seventy guests, and connected with the kitchen by lift, is situated on the flint floor, with a comfortable smoking-room and a handsomely furnished drawing-room en suite, together with two very large bedrooms and lavatories on the same floor. On the second floor is a cosy private parlour, and eighteen good bedrooms, besides bath-room with hot and cold water laid on. In all there are twenty-four bed­rooms, four of which contain double beds. Mr. MEYER, Proprietor of the Coffee Palace, was born in 1834 in Hamburg, where be was educated and trained for a mercantile life. In 1852, he came out to the Colonies and spent ten years in Maryborough, Victoria, during the last four years of which period he was in business as an ironmonger. He landed in Dunedin in 1862, and after a short experience on the diggings he entered into business as a storekeeper at Lawrence, Tuapeka goldflelds, till 1880, when he re­moved to Dunedin, For eleven years Mr. Meyer was in business in Roslyu as store­keeper, baker, etc. During his residence in that suburb he was on the local borough council for about five years, and also a member of the local hospital committee, and other institutions. He was married in 1800 in Victoria to a daughter of Mr. Barker, of Suffolk, England, and has seven daughters and seven sons.

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Last modified: 11/15/07