Page 20 - Bulletin 21

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London architects, Dunn & Watson, with Baker & Masey as resident architects, were then

appointed to design the Mount Nelson Hotel. (Figs. 1.13 & 1.14.) The four-storey hotel did
not over-embellish art nouveau features, as seen in the Grand Hotel. The builder was William

Cubbitt & Co., London. The Mount Nelson Hotel had, however, the highest quality of
finishes, equal to that of the best in London, the capital of refined hostelry. Baker & Masey

who supervised the final finishes received many accolades. The hotel was managed by the
African Lands & Hotels Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the Castle Mail Packets Co. The hotel was

the first in South Africa to offer hot and cold running water, and was opened on 6 March

1899 to rave reviews.

The two companies were now ‘locked in battle’ as to which could offer the best

accommodation. Ironically this was to no avail for within six months the companies were
negotiating terms whereby they would amalgamate following a new Ocean Mail Contract

which was to be awarded in April 1900. This contract would exclude the forbidden
amalgamation clause of 1876. On approval of both companies’ shareholders a new company,

the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. (referred to as the Union-Castle) was formed. Both
hotels were now under one ownership. When the contract ended in 1977 the last of the

mailships, the Windsor Castle sailed from Cape Town in October.

The Grand Hotel was demolished in 1950 and replaced by the ‘new’ Grand Hotel which was

of a much more conservative design, but it did include the famous balcony. The hotel was
demolished in 1974 and replaced by today’s Woolworths (Strand Street) Properties Pty Ltd.

(registered 1975). This building‘s nondescript architecture does nothing to enhance the

original beauty of this historic site.

The Mount Nelson, set among beautiful gardens and with its distinctive pink wall-wash,
remains one of the premier hotels in South Africa. The pink wall-wash was introduced in

1918 by Italian manager Aldo Renato to replace the hotel’s dark Victorian shades. This wall-

wash was commonly found among the villas and hotels in his Mediterranean homeland, and
after a somewhat controversial introduction is now one of the trade-marks of this famous

hotel.