Page 80 - Bulletin 15 2011

77

The Majestic Hotel, Kalk Bay

This hotel, designed by Parker and Forsyth and approved in March
1916, was originally named the Kalk Bay Hotel and was built for a business
syndicate headed by E. R. Syfret. (Builders: A. B. Reid & Co. Site foreman:
Chas McCarthy)

The Majestic Hotel

The hotel, completed at the end of 1917, was indeed a majestic hotel
with extensive grounds. The classic ornamental Art Nouveau architecture
by Parker and Forsyth, with the liberal use of columns and balconies was
balanced and most pleasing (3693). Known in all legal documents as, The
Kalk Bay Hotel (Pty) Ltd., it was leased on completion in 1917 to Ohlssons
Cape Breweries (later South African Breweries), and was purchased by the
Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. Ltd. in 1929 in order that the patrons of
the Mount Nelson Hotel could enjoy the cool sea breezes of Kalk Bay away
from the hot city bowl.

Majestic Hotel - c. 1918

Union-Castle sold the hotel to private owners in 1939 (George Koenig
and Son) and it nally closed in 1970. Thereafter Afrox took it over as a
cDre centre for the physically and mentally challenged. This centre closed in
1994 after the newly elected ANC Government withdrew the subsidy. After