ANCIENT HOTELS IN AUCKLAND

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 June 1936, Page 8

ANCIENT HOTELS IN AUCKLAND

DISQUIETING REVELATIONS

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND, Last Night.

Disquieting revelations as to the conditions in certain Auckland hotels were made at the annual meeting of the Auckland Licensing Committee. After visiting all of the older hotels the committee adjourned for consideration of the licenses of six houses and for reports from the owners or architects.

"The committee desires to inspect some of the older houses because it feels that these houses should be rebuilt," said Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., who presided. "Since these houses were built Auckland has progressed enormously. It is true that several large hotels have been built, but the committee is informed that accommodation is taxed and at some seasons inadequate. It is in the interests of the public that these should be rebuilt. The committee has asked me to say that it considers the time is long overdue for the comprehensive re-enact-ment of the licensing laws," continued Mr Wilson. "They are in many respects archaic, having come into being in the 'seventies and the early 'eighties, when public requirements were quite different.' A state of disrepair amounting to dilapidation was Mr Wilson's description of Queen 's Ferry hotel. "We want the owner to put some better proposition before us," he said. The police report on the Imperial hotel stated that the house showed signs of age and was infested with rats. A lavatory had been leaking into the cellar where beer was stored. This defect had fortunately been remedied. The Suffolk hotel is another very ancient building, but although dirty and not kept clean, it is in a fair state of repair considering its age. • However, there is no dining-room for the public and people have to have their meals in the kitchen.

The application was adjourned. Comment was also made regarding several other hotels.