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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

Central Hotel

Central Hotel (James Rolleston, proprietor), Victoria Street, Auckland. This house stands in the front rank of New Zealand hotels. Though it is in the heart of the city it is yet sufficiently removed from the bustle of Queen Street to have many of the most attractive characteristics of a private residence. It is a handsome three-storey brick building, and has a frontage with two entrances to Victoria Street, and another frontage with one entrance to High Street. Exclusive of the apartments of the servants, the Central Hotel has forty-four double and single bedrooms, but it is proposed to add another storey to the building to cope with the steadily increasing patronage which the house receives. When this is done guests will be conveyed in a lift to the upper stories. One of the distinctive features of the Central Hotel is its dining room, which comfortably accommodates upwards of eighty guests. In the daytime it is lighted by six large windows, and heavy chandeliers, with incandescent light, make it all brilliancy in the evening. The whole apartment is furnished with tete-a-tete or cafe tables, each of which accommodates from four to six persons. Good taste and good sense characterise the entire equipment and management of the hotel, where tourists, ravellers, and commercial men, as well as permanent guests with families, meet with every comfort and convenience. Electric bells and the incandescent light are used throughout the building, and each floor has its own lavatories, and bathrooms with hot, cold, and shower baths. The wines and spirits and the cookery at the “Central” are noted for their excellence. In the pantry, between the dining room and the kitchen, Mr. Rolleston has introduced
Central Hotel, Auckland.

Central Hotel, Auckland.

page 362 improvements specially devised by himself to reduce the drawbacks which are generally associated with the conveyance of food from kitchens to dining-rooms. By spending a large sum of money he has fitted the pantry at the “Central” with a long oven, heated above and below with gas jets, so that the temperature can be regulated to a nicety. Then a tank filled with water, and placed above the upper tier of gas jets and the oven, is fitted with a surface frame, which has a number of different-sized holes for holding variously-shaped vessels or dishes, which rest in the hot or boiling water in the tank. By this means the perfect cookery at the Central Hotel is conveyed in a state of unimpaired perfection to the guests in the dining room.
Mr. J. Rolleston.

Mr. J. Rolleston.