Hotel Darwin
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12°27′57″S 130°50′28″E / 12.465814°S 130.840987°E
Hotel Darwin was a hotel located on the Esplanade in central Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was commonly known as the "Grand Old Duchess".[1] Despite surviving the Bombing of Darwin and Cyclone Tracy, the hotel was demolished in 1999. A bar at the rear of the original site formerly known as the Hot & Cold Bar[2] now functions under the name Hotel Darwin.[3]
The Hotel Darwin was designed by D. K. Turner of Messrs. Stephenson and Turner.[4] It was built on the site of the old Club Hotel[5] at a cost of between £50,000[6] and £85,000.[4] Two hundred people attended the opening of the hotel, which was officiated by Northern Territory Administrator Charles Aubrey Abbott. His wife Hilda Abbott opened the doors with a golden key, which is now on display at the Defence of Darwin Experience.[7] Controversy erupted when several prominent Darwin figures did not receive an invitation. This was described as:
a very serious matter. These influential men might think that they have been deliberately ignored... the Post Office official cannot be too severely censured for their negligence.[8]
In 1947, the Communist Party petitioned to turn the Hotel Darwin into a community hotel, which was signed by more than 300 people.[9] Paspalis and Stanley Thomas Laurance were successful in their tender for the hotel.[10] In 1948, Lawrance was charged for failing to display a price list. The publican stopped serving beer while the case was before the courts, a period in the hotel's history described as "beerless, cheerless days".[11]
The Hotel Darwin featured 'The Pickled Parrot', a piano bar and a fine dining restaurant called 'The Green Room'.[12]