9.27.2007


the shine wore off the royal connaught hotel's crown years ago, but its potential remains. the place--in the heart of the core-- has been sitting empty for a few years now, although the story is that it will be renovated. the chandelier you see is a symbol of the hotel's glory days. it was part of the howard johnson chain when it closed and had become pretty tired looking at that point. some of the current ownership group is involved in the lister block down the road...

1 comment:

M@ said...

What a shame! I didn't realise the hotel was empty.

Our family used to go there every year for brunch for my grandfather's birthday, on the first Sunday of June. It was, I guess, what my family saw as the classiest place to go for a meal in Hamilton.

We started going to the Sheraton at one point, probably when HJ took over and the restaurant became a "Fran's". I think we gave up the ghost and just started having a family barbecue instead after going to the Sheraton a couple of times. It certainly wasn't the same as the Connaught.

In the novel I'm working on (currently in the editing stage -- please indulge the starving artist here), the Connaught is the hotel where the hero's mother demands they have lunch, because it's the nice place to go to lunch in Hamilton. Obviously it made a real impression on me. This despite the fact I've never even entered the building except to go for lunch.

It's a sad thing to see, but I really hope they'll restore it one day. Classy old hotels are really an important part of a city.

If you've got more pics of the Connaught, I'm hoping you'll post them.