Recently uncovered in the Daily Echo archives was one of the annual official tourism guides of Bournemouth from around 1948 called 'Bournemouth - Britians All-Season Resort' which was published by the Bournemouth Corporation.
The forward on this occasion was written by the Mayor of Bournemouth at the time John William Moore who served the town from 1946 to May 1949. The guides were full of wonderful photographs of the area highlighting the resort's best features, local entertainment, the special events through the seasons, and the hotels from around the area.
Half the guide is full of over 200 adverts for local hotels in Bournemouth and it was interesting to see just how many hotels have disappeared from Bournemouth over the years.
Here are a few that are featured:
Southbourne Cliffs Hotel
Situated on Southbourne Cross Roads the hotel was converted from a terrace of houses by the South Cliff Hotel, Apartments and Pensions, Southbourne-on-sea Company, and opened in 1881.
Changing hands many times over the years it was eventually converted into flats. In 1988 the building was demolished leaving only the Southbourne Public House annex which survived until 2010.
Fircroft Hotel
Situated on the corner of Owls Road and St Johns Road the hotel was built circa 1880 and changed from hotel to private residents back to a hotel over the years. From 1922, the building was a hotel until it closed in 2005. It has been demolished and replaced with a block of flats.
Linga-Longa Hotel
The hotel was situated on the corners of Alumhurst Road and Drury Road, Bournemouth West. The hotel was a favorite with visitors since 1925 and was only a short walk from Alum Chine. The hotel was demolished and replaced by flats.
Ocean View Hotel
The guest house was situated at 3 The Marina, Boscombe Marina was built circa 1880 overlooking the seafront at Boscombe. It was known at The Ocean View Hotel in the 1920s and then changed to a guest house then later The Ocean View Christian Hotel which was in business until the 1980s. The building along with a number of others was demolished in the 1990s to make way for development in the area including 'The Point' apartment block.
Hotel Merville
The Merville Hotel was situated at the junction of Cranborne Road, Exeter Road, and Terrace Road in Bournemouth. The site was originally where Tregonwell's gardener's cottage stood. The thatched cottage was demolished and rebuilt as a home for the Tregonwell family and later it was turned into the Merville Hotel. Along with a number of building in the area, the hotel was demolished in the 1990s and is now the site of the Hilton.
Do you have any memories of these hotels?
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