The Hotel Cecil

The Hotel Cecil, also known as the Cecil Hotel, is an Art Deco hotel on the corner of Scarborough and Nerang Streets in Southport. The first hotel on the site was two storey timber building erected in 1907 by the landowner and licensee of the hotel, Harry Taylor, formerly a blacksmith at Nerang. It was built during 1907 and was opened in March 1908. The hotel could accommodate 40 guests and provided a horse drawn buggy service to pick up people from the nearby Southport Railway Station. Not every person visiting the Hotel Cecil was an overnight guest. Day trippers travelling from Brisbane could have lunch at the hotel before returning home on the evening train. The hotel was also the venue for special events and the site of community gatherings.

In June 1938 the original timber hotel was moved to another location on the same site and construction of a new two storey brick hotel began. The new hotel was designed by G. H. M Addison and Son and H. S. MacDonald and was built by Mr. K. E. Morris of Brisbane.

In October 1938, four months after construction had started, the saloon and bars were opened to the public with the furnishings and design of the new hotel praised in local newspaper reports. The hotel’s name was emblazoned in cement letters accented in red and green across the curved facade facing the corner of Scarborough and Nerang Streets. Twenty guest rooms were located on the first floor with the bridal suite opening onto a curved private balcony overlooking the intersection below. The interior decoration of the hotel was in red, green and autumnal tones and featured polished chromium strips and patterned sand blasted glass doors with seaside themed decorative elements.

The Hotel Cecil, also known as B. DeMilles, is still operating on the corner of Scarborough and Nerang Streets.

Sources of information and further reading

1. “Advertising” The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947) 3 February 1908: 4 (SECOND EDITION). Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177159562
2. “CECIL HOTEL” South Coast Bulletin (Southport, Qld. : 1929 – 1954) 3 June 1938: 2. Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133763365
3. “SOUTHPORT.” Queensland Country Life (Qld. : 1900 – 1954) 1 November 1909: 19. Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100868660
4. “LEGACY BENEFITS” South Coast Bulletin (Southport, Qld. : 1929 – 1954) 29 October 1947: 16. Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188790375
5. “SOUTHPORT” The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933 – 1954) 17 October 1938: 6. Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38713473
6. “CECIL HOTEL” South Coast Bulletin (Southport, Qld. : 1929 – 1954) 3 June 1938: 2. Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133763365
7. “EXCURSION TO SOUTHPORT.” Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908) 26 October 1908: 5 (DAILY). Web. 19 May 2016 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125988718