MR. PLIMMER'S NEW HOTEL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5192, 12 November 1877, Page 3

MR. PLIMMER'S NEW HOTEL.

Without at all depreciating the excellent accommodation afforded by many of the licensed houses in the city, it may be said ■without exaggeration that the new hotel which Mr. Plimmer is erecting at the corner of Willis-street and Boulcott-street, on the site of the old Union Bank premises, will when completed be equal if not superior to any of them. The house, outbuildings, and garden cover an area of about three-quarters of an acre, and from the upper windows a fine view is obtained of the town and harbor and surrounding hill-. The building is three storeys high and fronting on Willis-street at the top of the building is a statue of Gibbon Wakefield. The keystones over the upper windows are also ornamented with the heads and faces (carved in wood) of numerous “old identities,” and others are to be added to various parts of the house, and one who is har ly an “ old identity,” but nevertheless a man who has done eminent service to the colony Sir Julius Vogel—is to a niche over the front entrance. On entering the hotel from Willis-street there is a bar 17ft. by lift, on the right hand, and a commodious sitting-room on the opposite side of the entrance hall. At the back are some very Bnu < r parlors, and beyond that again a spacious and admirably ventilated cellar 35ft, by 23ft. Upstairs, ascending by an easy staircase, is a large billiard-room and private sitting-rooms, with bedrooms adjoining, and in front looking into Willis-street there is an assembly-room 46ft. by 23ft. admirably suited for balls or public gatherings. Closets and bathrooms, to which hot and cold water will be laid, are on this floor ; and overhead is the largest room of all, at present designed for a storeroom, 60ft, by 14ft. There are between 40 and 50 rooms in all, and when finished, as they will be in the beststyle, will present a most comfortable and homelike appearance. The kitchen, which is fitted with a Oft. Leamington range, and all the latest improvements, is quite in keeping with the rest of the house. There is an entrance from the garden front facing Boulcottstreet, and a separate staircase leads to the upper rooms, so that in the event of a fire occurring there will be ample means of escape if required; but as water will be laid on to all parts of thebuilding, should such a disaster occur the flames would in all probability be extinguished almost as soon as they broke out. Mr. Plimmer, we understand, has been bis own architect and builder, and his work certainly reflects credit upon him. The artificers and workmen, who are carrying out bis designs under Ms superior guidance, appear to be doing their work admirably, and when finished the hotel will for appearance and accommodation be second to none in the colony. The cost is estimated at about £7OOO, a large sum no doubt, but which it is only reasonable to expect will be recouped with interest in a very few years’ time. What the new hotel is to be called we believe Mr. Plimmer has hot decided. At present it is spoken of as Plimmer’s Hotel, which perhaps may be the style and title which it will continue to bear; but that as before stated has not been settled as yet. The first tenant, we hear, will be Mrs. Power, formerly of the Commercial Hotel, whose name is a sufficient guarantee that in her hands the wants of the public will be well cared for.