From the very first years of New Westminster’s existence, this town has had accommodations for travellers to, and through, the area. These places could be crude and simple, or elaborate and fancy.
In the 1880s, a place that had been prominent for years, the Colonial Hotel, was replaced with a new version that was truly a highlight for those visiting the mainland and the city on the Fraser River. An article in the local newspaper described the building, and from this report we are shown a hotel that really sounds like it must have been a special place.
From fall of the year 1884, we visit the Colonial Hotel on the main street of New Westminster, through the writings of theMainland Guardian newspaper. Under the heading “A very fine hotel” we read, “The new Colonial Hotel on Columbia St., in this city, is both useful and ornamental. It has risen phoenix like, on the ruins of the old house, and is a substantial brick building.”
The ground floor of the structure apparently offered space for three storefronts and also accommodated the building’s kitchen, bar room, and a billiard room that was large, being 24 by 58 feet. This latter room had a glass wall along one side and a ceiling that “was decorated by seven superb centrepieces made at Seattle.”
The second floor was where the public dining room was situated, along with three private parlours. One special feature was a suspension system by which “the dinner will come up in a minute, hot from the kitchen stove to the dinner table.” On each of the floors “the bath rooms and closets are all perfect and supplied with the latest improvements. Hot and cold water are to be had at once in any part of the building.” In terms of the rooms as accommodations, there were 58 in the building, and “they will be luxurious consolations for those who wish to rest in peace on splendid beds.”
It is obvious from the description of the views that there many windows in the hotel. From one side could be seen a “magnificent stretch of the Fraser River and the solemn solitudes of the mighty forest” and from another “you get very pretty views of the snow-capped mountains of the north.”
The full cost of the structure was to be $50,000 and “the whole house, from turret to foundation stone, is perfectly finished. The architect displayed evidence of design and taste; the carpenters, painters, and plasterers did their work well.”
The report ends by making it clear that this hotel was very bright and comfortable: “the best thing in the house is a thing that cost nothing, and that is the light. It is in every nook and corner.” This was New Westminster’s Colonial Hotel of 1884.
