Warner's Hotel (Percy Herman, proprietor), Cathedral Square, Christchurch. Telephone 212. Bankers, Bank of New Zealand. P.O. Box, 239. This favourite hotel has recently been erected to replace the old wooden building, which was destroyed by fire in 1900. It occupies the site of the old structure, and has two frontages of 134 feet one to Cathedral Square, and the other to Worcester Street. As a piece of architecture, “Warner's” is an ornament to Cathedral Square, a handsome addition to the city, and one of the finest hotels in New Zealand. It is in the Italian style, built of brick and stone, three stories in height, and is altogether an extremely handsome and imposing building. Light ornamental iron galleries run round the building, and the upper portions are connected with the ground floor by iron stairs at convenient distances apart, so as to give the most perfect facility to all persons entering or leaving the hotel. The main entrance is from Cathedral Square, through an ornamental porch into a large vestibule with handsome passages leading to right and left. On the left is situated the office, which is supplied with a system of telephones connected with every part of the establishment. The main dining room, which is one of the largest and handsomest in the colony, faces the main entrance, and has room for 200 guests. In the daytime this room is lighted by skylights, but at night innumerable electric lights of various colours, playing upon the rich display of silver plate and specially imported glassware on the tables, give to the whole apartment a look of extreme elegance. The dining room generally has been furnished with good taste and luxury. Tables of various sizes are so arranged that parties and families can enjoy that privacy which is all the more agreeable on account of the animation of a large dining hall. A separate room capable of seating 100 guests can be used for private dinners. Two private sitting rooms, with a handsome room for the convenience of visitors, and close to the public telephone room, are to the right of the entrance, opposite the office. One of these is the waiting room for gentlemen guests, and is furnished with roller desks each supplied with a movable electric light; and each guest has during his stay the control of the key of a desk. In the northern end of the buildings, and completely cut off from the private portions of the establishment, are the public and private bars, fitted with handsome cedar fittings and bevelled plate glass mirrors. The public bar is a large and handsome apartment furnished with numerous luxurious couches, upholstered in crimson velvet. A smaller private bar adjoins, equally well appointed, and both are equally supplied with the choice wines, liquors, and cigars, for which “Warner's' has so good a reputation. A broad passage laid down with ornamental tiles leads past the bars to a large commercial room, which is reserved for the use of commercial gentlemen and their friends. At the back, and separated by a splendid system of lavatories, is the fine billiard room, fitted with two exhibition tables. The approach to the upper stories is by a broad staircase carpeted with heavy Wilton carpet and with brass mountings. The same luxurious material covers the corridors. The ladies' drawing room, which is on the southern end of the building, is furnished with the greatest luxury and taste, and supplied by telephones connected page 310 with every portion of the house. Along the passages there are numerous private sitting rooms furnished with the same magnificence which is displayed throughout the establishment. In this connection the appointments of “Warner's” reflect the utmost credit on the taste of Mrs Herman, who selected the furnishings. The second floor is devoted solely to bedrooms, each of which is supplied with an electric reading lamp over each bed, and convertible into a table reading lamp. All the rooms are furnished with refined luxury, and each has its wardrobe, telephone, and electric bell. Bathrooms with hot, cold, and shower baths are conveniently placed throughout the building. Altogether, “Warner's” is one of the finest hotels in the Australasian colonies, as it has over 120 rooms, each of which is furnished with every modern luxury and in excellent taste. The cookery at “Warner's” is excellent, and the services of a first-class chef, with numerous qualified assistants, are constantly retained by the proprietor. One of the secondary, yet still important, advantages connected with the hotel, is that the proprietor is agent for Cobb and Co.'s Telegraph Line of Royal Mail coaches, which run through the finest scenery in New Zealand. “Warner's” has an unrivalled situation in Cathedral Square, the centre of the city, for the tram services start and end close by, and yet the hotel is so built and placed as to be unaffected by the noise of the traffic. The General Post Office is within one minute's walk of the hotel, and the New Zealand Government's Tourists' Enquiry Office adjoins “Warner's”