URWIN’S THEATRE ROYAL HOTEL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4896, 30 November 1876, Page 2

URWIN’S THEATRE ROYAL HOTEL.

Mr. Urwin's new hotel at the comer of 1 Lambton-quay and Johnston-street is; now rapidly approaching completion, and will on Tuesday next be so far advanced as to more than justify the Licensing Commissioners in duly qualifying the enterprising proprietor to carry on his calling upon the premises. There is no more 1 delicate subject to dwell upon than the discretion most properly vested by the law in the Commissioners, of withholding and refusing licenses, and they have a most important duty to perform to the public and the State in the exercise of their functions. In considering the granting of a license to such a house as that of Mr. Urwin’s, there is not, however, much difficulty, for the excellence of the accommodation provided for the public, and the necessity for such an institution in connection with the theatre, are circumstances of such weight in favor of the application that any interested opposition must of necessity be futile. It is only where licenses are asked for premises which, perhaps, barely comply with the requirements of the law, or where there is a plethora of the publichouse element, that the Bench so wisely refuse to allow additional hotel extension, and we have no doubt that Mr. Urwin’s pluck and enterprise in incurring a vast outlay in the erection of so handsome a building will be duly appreciated on Tuesday, and he will be allowed to reap the legitimate fruits of his expenditure. The new building is erected cn a block of land with a frontage of 99ft. to Lambton-quay, and 56ft. to Johnatonstreet, the ground rent for the land amounting to no less than £351 9s. per annum, being at the rate of £3 11s. per foot _ frontage to Lambton-quay. Mr. Urwin has obtained a building lease for twenty-one years, under which he is 'bound to keep the building in complete repair until the end of the term, when it will revert to and become the property of the lessors ; so it will be seen that he is running a considerable risk from a commercial point of view in his speculation. The design and elevation of the building is very handsome ; and there are three entrances —the main entrance from Lambton-quay, surmounted by a portico, and two side entrances from Johnston-street, one leading to the side bar and bar parlor, and the other being the private entrance into the hotel and upper vestibule. Going in at the main entrance, you immediately step into the lower vestibule—a fine handsome room, 66ft. long by 28ft. wide. This will be fitted up with a bar all down the right-hand side ; and on the left a number of small tables will be arranged, with chairs, lounges, &c. On the immediate left of the door, an oyster-room is being erected, which will be fitted in a most luxurious style, and contains a gas stove and oven for hot water and other purposes. This vestibule will have immediate connection with the pit of the theatre, and an arrangement has been made with the management for a new system of check-taking, by which those who go in for a shillings worth at the play, can have free exist and egress. On the right-hand side of the main entrance is a door leading through the bar parlor—a nice little snuggery—into the public bar, which is a room 20ft. long by 18ft. The bar in this room will bo circular in form, and fitted with every modem improvement. Going out at the bar entrance, and coming in at the principal entrance in Johnston-street, over which there is some very excellent and handsome carving, you turn to the immediate right into the commercial-room, which is admirably adapted for the purpose, and is a square of 19ft. Coming out of this room and going up stairs, which by the way are very wide and commodious, you enter on the immediate right a private sitting-room of the same size as the commercial-room, over which it is situate. Directly opposite the door of this room is the upstairs vestibule, a fine room, 56ft. long by 26ft. broad, and which is to be fitted up in the same style as the vestibule to the Melbourne Theatre, with tables and sofas, Mr. Urwin stating that he is going to spare no expense to make it the most handsomely furnished room in the colony. The vestibule has direct communication with the upper circle of the theatre, and similar arrangements have been made as to check-taking as in the room below. This arrangement will be a great boon to theatre-goers during the intervals on wet evenings or in the winter, when an adjournment from the hot theatre to adjacent hostelries, through the wet and cold, is generally followed by a stiff neck or some similar evil, and we can congratulate the proprietor and the management on having come to terms on this matter. Off the vestibule and facing the comer of Lambton-quay and Johnstonstreet, is the dining-room, which is also a very fine room, 32ft. long by 19ft. wide, and well suited for the purpose which it is intended to serve. On the other side of the vestibule you descend half-a-dozen steps into the billiard saloon, which is 48ft. long by 23ft, wide, and will be fitted with two of Alcock’s best billiard tables, and a fine supply of new cues, balls, and all other - necessaries for the game. This is altogether one of the best billiard rooms in the city, and five bedrooms open up off it, so that boarders who play late can be accommodated without disturbing the rest of the house. These rooms are already completed, and only require bedding material to make them ready for use. At the head ef the stairs leading into the billiard-room is another staircase, at the head of which is a linen-closet, etc., and a long corridor, off which 10 bedrooms open out. These are of a fine, airy nature, and are not to be surpassed at any hotel in town. Coming downstairs again you descend a short staircase to the left, where there are situate two other fine bedrooms, opening off a landing from which a back staircase descends to the kitchen. This staircaseis very useful as being an additional outlet in the case of fire, and the vestibules improve the Theatre in this respect, as in the case of panic or any other accident it could be cleared at once. The kitchen is 16ft. x 13ft, and is provided with a Leamington range, capable of doing wonders in the way of cooking, and a patent hoist communicating through the upper vestibule with the dining room. A great feature in the kitchen is the patent ventilator, which will remove all the unpleasant odours arising from the cooking, and which render many hotels almost unbearable. The frontage to Lambton-quay not occupied by the lower vestibule, is taken up by two very fine shops, which we understand are already taken. The feature which most strikes one in all the rooms is the abundance of light, Mr. UnvVs architect not having been sparing in the matter of glass. The-windows in the front will be fitted with marginal colored glass, which will add Considerably to their effect. The cost of the building alone amounts to £4OOO, Mr. Ransom being the contractor. Mr. Turnbull is the arohictect, and the decorating has been done by Mr. Tinney. The furniture, upholstery, &c., is to be furnished by Mr. Nicholson at a cost of £ISOO. The building is altogether a credit to the city, and we wish Mr, Urwin, who is well known amongst us, every success in his new undertaking.