{{Short description|Former hotel in Sydney, Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox building | name = The Australia Hotel | native_name = | native_name_lang = | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = Artistic sketch of The Australia Hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, published in the Sydney Harbour Bridge opening programme, 19 March 1932.jpg | image_size = 270 | image_alt = | image_caption = Sketch of The Australia Hotel | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_mark = | pushpin_relief = | former_names = | alternate_names = | etymology = | status = Demolished | cancelled = | topped_out = | building_type = Hotel | architectural_style = | classification = | address = 45 Castlereagh Street | location_city = Sydney | location_country = Australia | coordinates = {{coord|33|52|05|S|151|12|35|E|type:landmark_region:AU-NSW|display=title,inline}} | altitude = | current_tenants = | namesake = | groundbreaking_date = 18 June 1889 | construction_start_date = | construction_stop_date = | est_completion = | topped_out_date = | completion_date = | opened_date = 1891 | inauguration_date = | relocated_date = | renovation_date = | closing_date = {{end date|1971|06|30|df=y}} | demolished_date = {{circa|1971|1972}} | cost = £200,000 (approx. $50m in 2024) | ren_cost = | client = | owner = | landlord = | affiliation = | height = 161ft 8in (49.27m) | architectural = | tip = | antenna_spire = | roof = | top_floor = | observatory = | diameter = | circumference = | weight = | other_dimensions = | structural_system = | material = | size = | floor_count = 10 | floor_area = | elevator_count = | grounds_area = | architect = | architecture_firm = Mansfield Brothers<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 June 1889 |title=The "Australia" Hotel |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71120210 |access-date=26 January 2026 |work=Australian Town and Country Journal |pages=13}}</ref> | developer = Anglo-Australian Investment, Land and Finance Company | engineer = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = Norman Selfe | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | main_contractor = Alexander Dean and Sons | awards = | designations = | known_for = | ren_architect = Emil Sodersteen | ren_firm = | ren_engineer = | ren_str_engineer = | ren_serv_engineer = | ren_civ_engineer = | ren_oth_designers = | ren_qty_surveyor = | ren_contractor = | ren_awards = | number_of_rooms = | parking = | embed = | embedded = | references = | footnotes = }} '''The Australia Hotel''' was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84598913 |title=Fire in Hotel Australia |newspaper=Singleton Argus|date=18 June 1954 |access-date=13 November 2015 |page=4}}</ref> "the premier hotel in Sydney"<ref>''Sunday Times'', Sydney, NSW, 2 July 1916 p.25.</ref> and described itself as "The Hotel of the Commonwealth".<ref>''Sydney Harbour Bridge Official Souvenir & Programme'', NSW Government Printer, 1932, p.128</ref> The hotel was situated in one of Sydney's important thoroughfares in the Sydney central business district.
==Opening== The foundation stone was laid by NSW Premier Henry Parkes on 18 June 1889, and the opening of the new establishment was performed two years later by Sarah Bernhardt, whose name was first in the new hotel's register, subsequently displayed in a glass showcase in the main foyer. The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' reported "French actress Sarah Bernhardt arrived in Sydney, bringing with her 100 pieces of luggage. As hundreds of fans flooded onto Redfern railway station platform as her train approached, she was whisked away from the platform to the Australia Hotel where hundreds more excited fans wanted to catch a glimpse of the glamorous celebrity. Her expensive flower filled 2nd floor suite played host to pets including a large St Bernard, a smaller pug dog, a native bear and several cages containing possums and parrots. Theatergoers, many of whom had paid up to £2 for a seat, were genuinely moved by Mme Bernhardt's performance in Dumas' ''La Dame aux Camellias'' at Her Majesty's Theatre. After the show, drama critics called her a 'woman of genius' saying she had held the audience spell bound." Next to the hotel, across Rowe Street, stood the famous Theatre Royal.
==Architecture== {{Further|Architecture of Sydney}} [[File:View of Martin Place from Castlereagh St, Sydney (NSW) (7417190710) (2).jpg|thumb|left|The building on the corner to the left is the Commercial Travellers Association & Club Building, and it and the 'modern' twin-wings of The Australia's Martin Place extension next to it were demolished in 1971–2 to make way for the MLC Centre.]] The hotel had a large main entrance on Castlereagh Street in polished granite, the stairs grey and white marble, the doric columns red. The squared columns in the entrance foyer were imported Italian marble, and the magnificent neo-classical staircase which led from the main foyer to the first floor was completely in multi-coloured Carrara marble. From that floor to the 10th a massive carved and highly polished mahogany Victorian grand staircase, with stained glass windows, led to their rooms those guests, who, in the early days of lifts, still preferred to walk.
The first floor contained a pillared corridor with various reception rooms, in addition to the Winter Garden - "famous for its morning and afternoon teas, light luncheons, and theatre suppers", and the Moorish Lounge, leading to the huge dining room - the Emerald Room, with its highly decorated ceiling some {{convert|20|ft|m|order=flip}} above the guests, Italian chandeliers, and a dais at the west end containing a white marble operating fountain and other statues, engulfed in palm court style shrubbery.<ref name=strange/>
In the late 1920s an extension was constructed to the north of the main hotel which fronted onto Martin Place. A highlight of this block was its circular art deco black glass staircase.
A small branch of department store David Jones was located in the hotel, which provided goods for visitors, hampers for sending to Great Britain and Australiana souvenirs.
The hotel also contained a number of very fine paintings of Australian scenes including eight watercolours by Gladstone Eyre.<ref name=strange/>
==Standards== The hotel boasted international standards of comfort and service. The Australia became "''the'' place to stay and be seen by the upper echelons of society".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/33522593?q=Australia+Hotel%2C+Sydney&c=picture&versionId=41205345|title = Trove}}</ref> The hotel remained an oasis for those who scorned modernity and sought the more refined atmosphere of the classic European hotels. Apart from the accommodation for guests, rooms were also provided in the Rowe Street wing for their servants, including the children's nurses, who had their own dining room with their charges. Robert Helpmann had a suite permanently reserved; Marlene Dietrich stayed there several times (thereafter her suite, rooms 707–708, was named after her)<ref name=strange>{{cite book|publisher=F. R. Strange Pty. Ltd. |title=Auction Catalogue |date=July 1971 |pages=24, 28, 50 }}</ref> and one lady lived there for 31 years.
==Notable events== right|thumb|A patron stands on the marble steps of the doomed Australia Hotel. The closure notice is pasted on a column. The hotel hosted many famous events.
* On Monday, 28 January 1901, the hotel saw the literary Bohemian society of Sydney gather for the send-off of Scottish-Australian poet and bush balladeer Will H. Ogilvie (1869–1963). Those present included painter Julian Ashton, writer Barbara Baynton, poet Christopher Brennan, poet Victor Daley, writer Albert Dorrington, playwright Alice Eyton, sculptor Nelson Illingworth, artist Fred Leist, poet Louise Mack (Mrs Creed), singer Eva Mylott, poet Banjo Paterson, poet and member of parliament Patrick Quinn, his brother and poet Roderic Quinn, artist Tom Roberts, activist Rose Scott, artist David Souter, journalist and suffragist Agnes Storrie, and writer and critic Alfred Stephens.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 February 1901|title=Bohemia Up To Date|volume=LII|page=11|newspaper=Freeman's Journal|issue=3239|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111081787|access-date=13 December 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * The hotel was the venue for the first meeting for the establishment of the Wireless Institute of Australia in March 1910.<ref>{{cite news|date=12 March 1910|title=A Wireless Enthusiasts' Institute|page=15|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|issue=9606|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238353379|access-date=13 December 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * Later in 1910 AWA obtained a licence from the Postmaster-General's Department to run telegraphy tests, from the hotel's 6th floor, with ships at sea, on 27 August. It was subsequently permitted to handle commercial traffic in 1911 – the first in Australia.<ref>History of broadcasting in Australia#Coastal network Tranche 0</ref> * 5 December 1915 a fire broke out at 11.30 am in the north-east corner of the roof and quickly spread, eventually gutting the upper three floors, but without loss of life.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15629418 |title=Big Fire at the Hotel Australia. Exciting Scenes. |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |issue=24,309 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 December 1915 |access-date=20 April 2018 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * In April 1919 the famous entertainer Sir Harry Lauder was staying at The Australia and giving a luncheon party when he was formally notified that he was to be knighted upon his return to Britain.<ref>''Newcastle Morning Herald'' 1st May 1919, p.5.</ref><ref>''Young Witness'' Sydney, New South Wales, Fri 2 May 1919, p.2.</ref> * In January 1941 Cabinet Ministers gave a dinner at The Australia for Robert Menzies who was about to leave for Great Britain.<ref>''The Argus'', Melbourne, Victoria, Saturday 25 January 1941 p.17.</ref> * In April 1949 the hotel had the historic importance of being the venue of the first successful television demonstration in Australia, when the State Governor, Lieutenant-General John Northcott was televised in the hotel's ballroom as he opened the demonstration.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47656586 |title=Television in N.S.W.|newspaper=The West Australian |location=Perth, WA |date=11 April 1949 |access-date=13 November 2015 |page=14 }}</ref>
==Closure, demolition, heritage== The hotel was put to auction on 25 February 1970 by Richard Stanton and Sons<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2017 |title=Dining at the Australia Hotel |url=https://blogs.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/cook/dining-at-the-australia-hotel/index.html |access-date=27 January 2026 |website=Sydney Living Museums}}</ref> and was purchased by MLC who, amid mounting concerns, announced their intention of refurbishing and maintaining the hotel, one of the city's landmarks. However they later announced the hotel's impending closure<ref>''Daily Mirror'', Sydney, Monday, 31 March 1969, p.22</ref>, and The Australia closed on 30 June 1971. The building was demolished in almost record time in 1971 and 1972, to erect a modern $200 million, 68-storey office block/skyscraper in its place; the MLC Centre by architect Harry Seidler.
The Royal Australian Historical Society who fix their famous Green Plaques to historic buildings and sites, placed their 39th plaque on the MLC Centre in memory of the Australia Hotel.
==See also== *{{portal-inline|Hotels}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''Sydney Harbour Bridge Official Souvenir & Programme'', NSW Government Printer, 1932, p. 128. * Ruhen, Carl, ''Pub Splendid'' - The Australia Hotel 1891–1971, John Burrell (Murray Child Ltd., pubs.), Collaroy N.S.W., 1995, {{ISBN|0-908048-19-X}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Australia Hotel}} * https://web.archive.org/web/20070702084549/http://www.rahs.org.au/GREEN%20PLAQUESdraft.pdf * [http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/hotel_australia Hotel Australia] entry at the Dictionary of Sydney
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia Hotel, The}} Category:Defunct hotels in Sydney Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1890 Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Sydney Category:Demolished hotels in Australia Category:1890 establishments in Australia Category:1972 disestablishments in Australia Category:Castlereagh Street, Sydney Category:George Allen Mansfield buildings Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1972