Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Dolphin Hotel Nahoon Mouth, East London, Eastern Cape

Date: c1950 Type: Hotel Status: Demolished May 2007   Click to view map Coordinates: 32°59'17.18" S 27°56'45.67 E Alt: 27m

The early photographs are scanned from an album of photographs - all taken shortly after the building was constructed. Album loaned by Peter Hoelandt. Submitted by William MARTINSON. CYRIL van Seumeren was intrigued by the article published last week [Grand Old Lady demolished without fanfare Go + Express 24 May 2007] about the demolition of the Dolphin Hotel: "Thanks for the article on the Dolphin Hotel," he wrote, "I am the eldest son of the late Frits van Seumeren and would like to add a few points of interest. "The Dolphin was originally designed to be a tearoom with batchelor flats above, but when the builders reached the first floor slab level, they were refused a trading licence due to the municipality having their own tearoom down the road. "The plans were then altered to become a Hotel. The design included en-suite bathrooms for all the bedrooms which was a first for East London. "Their application for a liqour licence was first refused because there was no wash handbasin in the bedrooms, as per the regulations! It took some interesting turns before succeeding. "My father and Alf Roebert employed Frans Staal to manage the hotel from when it first operated and encouraged him to become a very successful and contributing partner. "In later years he sold his share to Rob Goorhuis who eventually bought the balance from the van Seumeren and Roebert widows." Source: Go + Express 31 May 2007.