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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]
The Grand Hotel
The Grand Hotel (Joseph A. Ainge, proprietor), corner of Princes and High Streets, Dunedin. Telephone 537. P.O. Box 96. This hotel, which cost over £40,000, takes rank as one of the finest houses in the Southern Hemisphere and occupies a commanding site, in the business centre of Dunedin, within a minute's walk of the Post Office, Bank of New Zealand, railway station and wharf. The building is constructed of stone and concrete, and contains five floors, exclusive of the basement. The chief entrance is from High Street, by handsome glass folding doors, through which visitors pass into the central hall or vestibule, with its beautiful mosaic floor and decorated glass dome. The ground floor accommodates the offices, the public bar with its entrance from Princes Street, a large commercial room, with space for one hundred persons, two luggage rooms, a beautifully decorated private bar, and a most commodious and comfortable smoking and writing room, which is supplied with the best current literature of the day. Guests have a choice of ascending by a fine stairway, or by the powerful Otis elevator, which communicates with the various floors of the house, to the gallery which surrounds the hall on the first floor. This gallery is used as a lounge by lady visitors. The dining room is a palatial apartment, capable of seating one hundred guests. Its cornices and panels are exquisitely decorated. When the room is fully laid out for half-past six o'clock dinner it presents a truly sumptuous appearance. A serving pantry, which opens into the dining hall, communicates with the kitchen, where a first-rate master cook is helped in his important duties by several experienced assistants. This floor has a large private writing and smoking room for the use of visitors only, and also a beautifully furnished drawing room, from the windows of which guests have a full view of the traffic of the main thoroughfare. There are also several suites, each with its sitting room and bedrooms, on this flat. The second and third floors contain the bedrooms. On each of these floors there are two bath rooms, with hot and cold water, and shower connections. The whole hotel is furnished with a degree of luxury and taste seldom seen except in the leading hotels of Europe. Two beer cellars and a large wine cellar are in the basement, and are stocked with the best and most expensive brands of wines, liquors, and cigars; indeed Mr. Ainge has a colonial reputation for these, and his stock is the largest connected with any hotel in the colonies. The building is considered to be as nearly as possible perfectly fire-proof, and insurance companies regard it as one of the best risks in the colonies. Every advantage has been taken by the architect in its construction to provide easy ways of escape in case of fire. The total number of rooms is 110, of which seventy are bedrooms. The bars, which are separated from the main portion of the hotel, are supplied with only the best liquors, wines and cigars. The “Grand” is one of the oldest established hotels in Dunedin, but the present building was erected about 1880. It is a favourite house with tourists, and has been patronised by His Excellency the Governor and suite. Altogether, the appointments, cookery, and general management of the Grand Hotel entitle it to a prominent place amongst Australian hotels of the first order.
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Grand Hotel.