“No Plans For Hotels”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 3

“No Plans For Hotels”

(N.Z Press Association) WELLINGTON. June 21. New Zealand Breweries, Ltd., disclosed today that it has no definite plan to build more hotel accommodation in Wellington in the next five years. When the firm's managingdirector (Mr B. T. O’Connell) stated this at the Licensing

Control Commission hearing today, the chairman (Mr S. T. Barnett) said he was disappointed.

New Zealand Breweries Is applying to the commission to have several of its smalt hotels in Wellington converted to tavern licences. Mr O’Connell said the company’s accommodation plans for the city were to extend the Waterloo Hotel with a new building in Bunny street, and to rebuild the Midland Hotel into a 12-storey hotel for 261 guests.

But both proposals were Indefinite, the first because of Government plans, and the second for economic reasons. The company was building a £2 million hotel in Auckland, and it now wanted to make sure this was a profitable venture before going ahead with the Midland idea. If the Auckland hotel was not profitable it would not go ahead with the Midland, said Mr O’Connell. Mr O’ConneTl said his company was satisfied that large hotels were a better economic proposition than small or medium hotels. In other words, a 200-guest hotel would make more money than five hotels each for 40 guests.