Hydro Majestic Hotel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hydro Majestic Hotel |
|
|---|---|
Hydro Majestic Hotel Casino dome in 2007
|
|
| General information | |
| Location | 52-88 Great Western Highway, Medlow Bath, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°40′32.85″S 150°16′51.08″E / 33.6757917°S 150.2808556°E |
| Opening | 1891 (Belgravia Hotel) 1904 (Hydro Majestic) |
The Hydro Majestic Hotel is a famous hotel located in Medlow Bath, New South Wales, Australia. It sits high on a clifftop, looking out over the beautiful Megalong Valley. You can find it on the western side of the Great Western Highway.
This hotel is very special because it's on a heritage list. This means it's an important historical building. It's known for its interesting mix of building styles, like Art Deco and Edwardian. A key part of the hotel is its Casino dome. This dome was actually bought in Chicago, in the USA! It was then shipped all the way to Australia. From there, it traveled to the Blue Mountains by bullock train and was put together again at the hotel site.
Contents
History of the Hydro Majestic Hotel
The story of the Hydro Majestic Hotel began in the early 1900s. A well-known Australian shop owner named Mark Foy started buying the land in 1902. He wanted to build a special health retreat, called a hydropathic sanatorium. He believed there were natural mineral springs on the land.
The area where the Hydro Majestic stands was originally three separate pieces of land with buildings. One part was a country home owned by W.H. Hargraves. Mark Foy bought this house in 1901. It became the Hargravia section of the Hydro.
The second part was the Belgravia Hotel, which opened in 1891. This hotel was also a health retreat. It was built in the Queen Anne style. Mark Foy bought it in 1903.
The third part was a small house owned by Alfred Tucker. Mark Foy asked the government to change the town's name from "Medlow" to Medlow Bath. This is the name it still has today.
Mark Foy spent a lot of money on the hotel. He created beautiful gardens and even brought his own cows for fresh milk. It's said that he had electricity and a working telephone at the hotel four days before Sydney, the big city, did!
When the hotel opened in 1904, the mineral springs Mark Foy hoped for had dried up. So, he had mineral water brought in from Germany in large steel containers. After its long journey, the water reportedly tasted quite bad. People thought this meant it must be very good for your health! Guests were told to drink this water often.
By 1906, health retreats were not as popular. So, Mark Foy decided to change the hotel's image. He made it a luxury getaway and renamed it the Hydro Majestic. All mentions of health treatments were removed from advertisements. However, guests could still ask for them if they wanted.
In 1913, Mark Foy sold the hotel to James Joynton Smith. He was a businessman and a politician in New South Wales.
During World War II, one of the hotel buildings was used as a hospital for American troops.
Sadly, parts of the hotel have been damaged by fire over the years. The gallery building burned in 1905, the laundry in 1912, and the original Belgravia wing in 1922. Because the hotel is surrounded by the Blue Mountains National Park, bushfires have often come close. There was a very close call with bushfires in December 2002.
Hotel Restoration and Upgrades
The Hydro Majestic Hotel was officially listed as a heritage site in 1984. After many years of not being looked after well, the hotel started getting major updates in the 1990s.
In 2008, the hotel closed for a big renovation. The new owners, Huong Nguyen and George Saad, wanted to bring the hotel back to its former glory. They spent a lot of money to restore it and add new features.
New Developments at the Hotel
The owners announced plans to redevelop the hotel in late 2012. The first part of this plan was finished in June 2014. This included fixing up most of the old parts of the hotel. They also replanted gardens and made the hotel's outside look beautiful again. The hotel has a very long front, stretching 1.1 kilometers along the Megalong Valley cliffs.
In the newly renovated hotel, the old Casino building became the Casino Lobby. This is now a grand entrance and a space for events. A renovated area behind it became a fancy restaurant called The Wintergarden. Other historic rooms like The Billiard Room and The Majestic Ballroom were also updated.
Future Plans for the Hotel
The second part of the hotel's development will add new guest rooms and a large spa area. The historic Belgravia Lounge will become a special lounge and bar just for hotel guests. New wings, like the Mark Foy Wing, will add luxury suites with amazing views.
After these changes, the Hydro Majestic Hotel will have one of the biggest spa complexes in the southern half of the world. It will include a huge mineral spa and pool areas. There will also be eight treatment rooms with a glass atrium looking over the Megalong Valley.
The Casino Building
_(14597236407).jpg)
One of the most impressive buildings at the hotel is the casino building. When they say "casino" here, it means a meeting hall or a grand pavilion. It was never used for gambling. This casino building is a very fancy, old-fashioned structure. It now serves as the main ballroom for the hotel. As mentioned, it was shipped from Chicago in the early 1900s and put together by 1903.
The casino was a famous place for performances. The well-known singer Dame Nellie Melba gave her first "farewell tour" performance here in 1928. Another famous singer, Dame Clara Butt, also performed in this room. The last show in the room was a small play called The Mikado in 1969.
Today, the casino is the main entry point for guests. It has a lounge area and is used for events.
Guest Rooms
The Hydro Majestic Hotel has three main areas where guests can stay: the Belgravia, Hargravia, and Delmonte wings.
The Belgravia wing was originally the old Belgravia Hotel. After a fire destroyed it, a new Belgravia wing was built between 1922 and 1936.
The Hargravia wing is named after "Hargraves House." This was one of the first buildings on the hotel site. It was built by William Hargraves, whose father, Edward Hargraves, is said to have discovered gold in Australia.
The hotel also offers three special suites: the Majestic Room, the Grand Majestic Suite, and the Valley Suite.
Famous Guests at the Hotel
Many famous people have stayed at the Hydro Majestic Hotel. Besides singers Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Clara Butt, others include:
- Bertha Krupp: A wealthy heiress who gave a Bechstein grand piano to the hotel.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The author who created Sherlock Holmes. The Blue Mountains were his inspiration for his book The Lost World.
- Russell Crowe: A famous actor who was asked to take off his baseball cap while eating in the Great Dining Hall in 1994.
The boxer Tommy Burns even set up a training camp at the Hydro Majestic. He trained there for his world title fight against Jack Johnson in Sydney in 1908. He ran for miles on the mountain tracks to get ready.
Australia's first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton, also stayed at the hotel. He had retired from politics and was a judge at the High Court. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the hotel while on holiday in 1920.
