Durban - The old picture this week features Durban’s Torquay Hotel, which was posted by John Coldbeck on the Facebook page “Durban Down Memory Lane”.
The hotel was demolished in the late 1960s and forms part of the stand on which the Elangeni Hotel stands today. The Elangeni opened in 1971. On the left is Carnarvon Court, which forms the rest of the Elangeni today.
In the post, Coldbeck asks for memories of the old hotel which brought forth a wave of nostalgia, from weddings and honeymoons to 21st birthdays, to watching the performances in the amphitheatre below from its rooms.
Another pointed out how similar this stretch of Durban’s beachfront was to Eastbourne in England, another popular beach destination in the UK.
Owned by Mrs Collins, the Torquay Hotel was renowned for its excellent cuisine and great service. Three meals a day, plus morning and afternoon teas with cake and scones served on the verandah, were all included in guests’ reservations.
The hotel was designed by architects Street-Wilson and Paton and erected in 1930.
Photographer Shelley Kjonstad took two pictures of the site, one approximating the original Torquay Hotel, and the other from an early morning walk on the promenade as the sun was coming up.
The Independent on Saturday