When the Majestic reigned no more

IOL News

3 days ago

From left to right: the Edward, Fern Villa (Majestic) and the Ards gaze over the paddling pond at Ocean Beach, circa 1914.
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THERE is a wonderful old photograph taken during one of the last summers before the First World War erupted so suddenly in 1914. It shows three hotels on Durban's Marine Parade standing confident in their Edwardian splendour overlooking the children's paddling pool and Ocean Beach beyond. The hotels are the Edward (opened in 1911), Fern Villa (later renamed the Majestic) and the Ards's which was not actually a hotel but provided short - term accommodation in a choice location.
Hard as it is to believe, the recently laid out Marine Parade had not originally been a desirable location. Durban's main swimming beaches had been at Congella and in the Bayside, where the Marine Hotel held court on the Victoria Embankment. True there was one hotel on Ocean Beach, the appropriately named Beach Hotel, which advertised itself in the 1890s as 'the only hotel in Durban facing the sea'.
Postcards of the Fern Villa could be found at the Reception for guests to post to their friends and family.
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What is omitted to mention was that to actually reach the sea, the extensive sand dunes had to be negotiated. That difficulty was to be resolved after 1904 when the Town Council began to clear the dunes and develop the area by laying out lawns and building a bathing pond.
These proved to be a great attraction, not only to the public but also to prospective hoteliers, one of whom was Mrs JC Young. If anyone understood the hotel industry, it was Mrs Young. She already owned and managed the 62 bedroom Fern Villa Hotel on the corner of Smith and Aliwal Streets, which unusually for the time had an American novelty - a roof garden. There guests could relax at night time, watching 'the moon rising over the ocean and the lights of the Berea twinkling like fairy lamps.'
The Fern Villa during World War 1.
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The foundations of the Edward Hotel had barely been dug when Mrs Young decided the future lay on the Marine Parade. She purchased the plot next door and built a new Fern Villa. A year after the Edward had opened, the Fern Villa had its own grand opening in 1912. As with her original hotel, Mrs Young knew the value of advertising.
In the 1914 'Guide to South and East Africa' published annually for the Union Castle Mail Steamship Company, there is a full page advert for 'Durban's Newest Hotel' where guests could sit on deep balconies overlooking the Promenade with a 'full and comprehensive view of the beach and ocean- the finest balconies in Africa.'
A 1945 advert for the Majestic Hotel
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If that was not enough, her hotel also had hot and cold baths, a lift, electric lights and a bus which fetched guests from all trains and steamers. Once the war broke out, most leisure travel was suspended with many ships commandeered for use as troop carriers.
But in those last seasons, visitors flocked to Ocean Beach where they enjoyed Military Bands (which played twice daily), Punch and Judy shows and beach sports. One photo of the 1912 Christmas Carnival shows a boys' relay race. The boys are wearing long trousers, long sleeved shirts and ties, while the men are in three piece suits - all on a hot, humid December day!.
The 31 Club menu for their Buffet /Dance Fern Villa evening.
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After the war, the Fern Villa was sold to Mr E.T. Church in 1921. He renamed it the Majestic, enlarged it in 1928 by adding a new wing and a covered parking area in Brancombe Place where luggage and cars were taken attendants. With 112 bedrooms and 20 luxurious suits, accommodation was ' equal to the most fastidious demands'.
The Fern Villa presides over the Boy's Relay race at the Christmas Sports, December 1912. Appropriate Edwardian dress fully observed.
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After the death of Mr Church senior in 1932, his son took over the hotel, priding himself not only on cuisine guests enjoyed at the Majestic, but also the attention to detail behind the scenes: no creaking doors, stiff drawers or absence of clothes hangers. It remained a leading hotel after the Second World War. The 1945 Lawries Directory lists the Marine, Edward, Majestic and Royal Hotels as some of Durban's leading hotels.
A 1960s postcard taken from a similar vantage as the 1914 photo. From left to right : the "new" Edward (opened in 1939), the "old" Edward Causerie of 1911, the Majestic and High Wycombe which replaced the Ards in the 1950s. The two original hotels look somewhat less confident. Neither would survive much longer.
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By the early 1960s, some of its prestige had begun to fade. Guests expected private bathrooms with every room, not just the suites. Both the Edward and Royal Hotels met that demand and remained the most expensive hotels with the beach, Claridges and Endenroc not far behind. The Majestic, like the Marine, were priced more as a family hotel. The end was not far off: in 1968 it was announced that the hotel would close with demolition to begin in March 1969.
A veranda cluttered with bathroom fittings during the demolition of the Majestic, April 1969.
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The Majestic did not go quietly. The 31 Club held a buffet/dance to raise money for the William Clark Children's Home in Sherwood on February 15,1969. In honour of the hotel's original name, the Fern Villa Dinner recalled those heady days of 1912. 'Everywhere brass gleamed, ferns and aspidistras flourished, a honky tonk band played and ostrich feathers fluttered. Outside, two 1912 automobiles were parked.' Soon after, the Majestic closed its doors for the last time.
There is a set of four photographs taken in early April 1969 of the hotel in its death throes, invoking both nostalgia and sadness that so majestic a building would ever be torn down. On the Victoria Embankment, the Marine met the same fate in 1972.
The Majestic name still visible on the entrance door, April 1969.
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A brochure in 1912 described Durban as the Brighton of South Africa. When one again looks at that pre - World War 1 photo of those three hotels, one could not imagine that they could ever be knocked from their perch. Yet none survived. The first to go was the Ards in 1950/1, followed by the Majestic in 1969 and finally the old Edward in 1977. Known as the Edward Causerie,it had traded alongside the ' new' Edward since the latter had opened in1939.
The final days of the Majestic Hotel, April 1969.
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