Hotel Accommodation

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 243, 11 July 1938, Page 13

Hotel Accommodation

Sir —In Saturday's “Dominion” you referred to the pressure on the available accommodation due largely no doubt to visitors to the races. Earlier in the week you made reference to the difficulty over the All Blacks. What kind of a muddle will occur when thousands of visitors arrive for the exhibition? Every annual conference, athletic, and other gatherings will be held in Wellington during the six months the exhibition is open. From what happened in Auckland and Dunedin, one wonders what overseas people would think if it was suggested they accept a spare room in a private home. It seems to me the exhibition directors should stir themselves to see whether a number of licensed hotels with little or no accommodation should not be rebuilt without delay. The licensing committee has more than once pointed out the need for this to be done. From observation one realises that, owing to the housing shortage, most of the available accommodation in Wellington hotels (licensed and otherwise) is occupied by permanent guests, leaving little for visitors. The whole matter of housing the people in Wellington requires looking into by a qualified commission, and I urge that steps be taken (if not already done) by the exhibition directors to go into the matter with the Government before it is too late. —I am, etc., R.P.M. Wellington, July 9.