Brisbane Observations: Hotel

^{As I am based in Brisbane, I thought I'd share some thoughts about my adopted hometown.}

Hotels

A hotel is not necessarily a place where you can stay overnight. Have you noticed that many pubs have the word "hotel" as part of their name?

For example: The Story Bridge Hotel, the Victory Hotel, the Regatta Hotel, the Normanby Hotel, the Breakfast Creek Hotel. These are all pubs; you cannot stay overnight!

The Regatta Hotel (source: wikipedia)

But once upon a time, you could stay overnight at these places. This is because before budget chain hotels and motels were available, pub accommodation was often the only place people (usually men) could stay when travelling around Australia. In addition to this, licensing laws meant that establishments selling alcohol had to provide food and accommodation as part of their services. In other words, a pub had to provide eating and sleeping facilities if they served alcoholic beverages. Imagine what it would be like if that were still the case!

When licensing laws changed, many of these businesses kept their original names which included the word hotel.

If you look closely at some of the pubs (hotels) which are still in their original buildings, you can see how each window would have been the window of a bedroom.

Which hotels (pubs) have you seen this feature on? Which is your favourite hotel (pub) in Brisbane?