Hotel for auction

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 6

Hotel for auction

The Ambassador Private Hotel in Manchester Street will be offered at auction next Tuesday. It has been on the market for $150,000 since September last year, when the owners, Mr Alex and Mrs Yvonne Taylor, closed it because they could not afford to convert from gas to electricity. Mr Taylor died recently, and the hotel, with the shop next to it, is now to be sold as part of winding up his estate. . Zoned Industrial' 3, the hotel, and shop property had a Government valuation of $llO,OOO in 1979 but the auctioneer, Mr A. W. McClel-

land, expects, it to sell for more. The valuations of many Christchurch commercial properties were reduced $30,000 to $50,000 on the figures five years previously, and Mr McClelland said the hotel and shop were worth more than their present valuation. He estimated $20,000 would be needed to make the Ambassador Hotel functional, including the cost of converting to electricity. Mr McClelland said the hotel could be run on gas for another eight months or so, but at the time it. was closed, Mr Taylor told “The Press”

parts ot the gas system had already been cut off and that the Christchurch Gas Company was reluctant to make repairs. The hotel was built of double brick by the Sleeman family in 1928, and was bought by Mr and Mrs Taylor in 1977. It has 45 bed-, rooms and can accommodate 60 people. Everything runs on gas apart from the lights and a few power points in the bedrooms. . Although lacking the splen-. dour of its heyday; the Ambassador Hotel still, features polished woodwork, leadlight windows, and • there is a small garden and lawn in front. ‘ }