WHAT GREYMOUTH WANTS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 3 March 1906, Page 3

WHAT GREYMOUTH WANTS.

(To the Editor.)*; - Sir,—Thie rapid progress being made by the ;We»t Coast generally, andl Greymouth< in particular, emphaeisee the fact that the question of proper hotel accommodation looms largely on the horizon, and must soon be faced in a practical and business-like manner. I am pleased to hear; that in your sister town,.~Hokitika, the importance of the subject is realised, and in grasjiing the (situation, your townsman/ -Mr J.- Lynch, has proved himself to be .a real live man. It is_to be hoped that His initiative will result in the erection of. a commodious hotel, up-to-date in its managed by a competent hotelkeeper. If so, the proprietary will find it a niost profitable investment, and to the gravelling public it .will .be-a veritable boon. •'.. ','?-:*?,

In all the large Centres of the East Const and throughout New Zealand generally, the various licensing committees have rer. solved that the tin-pot drinking shop must go and give« place to properly built . hotels to be conducted on business lines, _-■ ; and provide fitting accommodation for . independent of whether the latter partake or abstain from alcoholic liquors. In other words; the bar must he what public opinion and legislative enactments intend it to be—an adjunct and subsidiary part of hotel accommodation proper, not the Alnha and Omega of a licensed house. For upwards of twenty years the writer has made two trips annually to your Coast and be is distinctly of opinion that the time has arrived when a town of Greymouth's admitted importance should nns sess a first-class hotel, fitted with every modern convenience? At the present time by no stretch of the imagination, can any West Coast hotel catering for first-class trade, be classed in this category; my business necessitates ma carrying a fair, but not inordinate, amount of lug"-.-* and I pity.the porters who have to carry it on their heads up the awkward and narrow stairways of the old-time built structures that serve for first-elaes caranvanseries. • • - *

In justice to the inh-keepers, it must e Dlainly understood that I wish in no way to reflect upon their hotel management. In many cases the trade i.s conducted in a. most praiseworthy mannerj . in fa-1, 'marvellously so, when the- nature of bni'ding conditions and general appurtenances are taken into account. Hotels I have visited in Greymouth were conducted by men whose excellent management could not be excelled in any part of the colony, but they were "out-handicanncd for want of suitable buildings.' i I understand that a move nent is afoot to build a really first-class hotel in Greymouth. I only hope the fact is so. for in your town it is badly wanted, and a rich return will bo made on capital go invested. In neglecting to keep abreast of the times, or even follow in the van of progress, owners and landlords of hotel propertii s are their own worst enemies. In this Sown I am informed that tenants paying from £8 to £lO weekly rent for old ramshackle and insanitary buildings, absolutely received not a penny in cash or allowance towards effecting repairs or alterations rn places that were a menace to public health and even life. Of course, everyone knows his own .-'.'- siness best, but how tenants can bo foili 1 to pay such rack rents for insanitary slumties is a surprise to me, and it is still more a surprise that owners of such buildinrs are so blind to their own intercuts as n f to nrovide suitable buildings for the trait* their unfortunate tenants cater for. In Greymouth and elsewhere on the Coast, results are in evidence that he wl, i runs may read. It appears as if owners were quite content to enjoy to the la.'.t penny the rack rents without a thought of the reckoning with public opinion tomorrow that must surely and inevitably come. . i In the interests of owners, tenants and the public alike, it is to be hoped that tho new Licensing Committee to be shortly elected will compel landlords to providfitting building accommodation, or e 1..: make room for others who are prepared to do so. How many first-class hotels a e now in Greymouth to suitably accommodate the ordinary run of visitors, to say nothing of the radual growth of the tourist traffic and the heavy influx of pi op e people who may visit the Coast after viewing the International Exhitotion al Christchurch. The urgency and importance of tho subject is my excuse for tin-, trespassing on your space, and thatunig vou in anticipation, 1 am, — J TRAVELLER. [Our correspondent heads his letter "What jGreymouth Wants," and weagrcc with many "of his remarks. But it is nut a multiplicity of hotels that is required, but larger accommodation. .Such accommodation upon an ample, libera! and el;--borate scale we are have in tho new Al bion Hotel about to bo erected. Ihe old structure, intimately associated with t>. early history of the Coast, will before the end of the month disappear to make rooie for a thoroughly up-to-date hotel provide with every modern convenience. » e lia\ i aeen the plans; indeed, we have ihem no* before us, and can from actual inspection of same. The edifice built <i brick, will be more than twice, ihe si/. of the old Albion, and will include Hie nu, shops now occupied by Messrs 1 erkiri and Chalk. It will be two ..tones high and contain 75 apartments, of which th bar will possibly be the east, pretention, portion of the hotel. Iro.u Maw hcra Quay there will be two entrances, wliu terminate in a fine vestibule, which wd be luxuriously furnished. On t lie east.. the eastern passage will be the bar vwui a door opening there, and also one on t the footpath; further along are two coin fortable parlours, special room lor boa ders and a commodious dining room, . .1 excellently lighted .and «~< ] - * tween the two corridors which « F lei with each other will be a s,. commercial room, which will tea . >; feature, and well suppliedl with l itir ture. Behind this are the offices. On In western side will be three large apartments and a commodious billiard room On the ground floor are to vent.l ■ ouit rooms at the rear of which are the mi Ten,'pantry, etc. . Theater enterm by the western corridor will be lit :* - from the bar and other more publi room I a nd on reach ing the vwtibulecwpodm.j to the dining room or upstairs to h. . 0 her apartments. . 'ihe second Bat :a com nrised of suites c! apartiuei.i -Atly-«»«^.^»^\ n ,S , « h te. of bedrooms, all roomy and wellJifc mo from free space n the centre of the imi « £? Bath P rooms-with hot and cod w te? or Shower-lavatories etc. 1 o„nd at various parts of the budhng . reduce the danger from fire v briCK wn plete kind. It « hotel with the best ol furniture, ail 11 in point of fart, nothing that las << ZX will find hlr t ,;■-.,! will be fitted all over the rtruc in,