The Hydro-Majestic, overlooking the Megalong Valley
MAJESTY AND WATER RESTORED TO HYDRO MAJESTIC BY ANGELA LE SUEUR
In July 2014, one of Australia’s best-loved and iconic hotels will reopen its doors for the first time in five years, following completion of stage 1 of a refurbishment with a total cost of around $30 million. Sold to The Escarpment Group in 2008, the completed project will see the hotel once again live up to its name, with luxury accommodation and a new state-of-the art spa facility to be included in Stage 2 of the transformation which will place the Hydro Majestic at the cutting edge of hotel concept design in Australia. The linked chain of buildings and extensions with their castellated parapets which is the Hydro Majestic, runs across 1.1km of escarpment overlooking the Blue Mountains’ spectacular Megalong Valley. Within the bounds of a detailed Conservation Management Plan, Stage 1 of the project will include restoration of the hotel’s many historic buildings together with the re-design of public areas and the development of the Mark Foy Pavilion, which will showcase the natural produce of the region and celebrate the history of the hotel. Stage 2 to be completed over the following two years will add world-class spa and treatment facilities, and new and refurbished accommodation.
A colourful past Since opening its doors in 1905 to offer the best in British and European-inspired spa treatments to the rich and famous, the ornate and expansive Hydro Majestic has created its own myths and legends. The story started in 1901 when Mark Foy (1865-1950) co-founder of the eponymous Sydney store, bought the Belgravia Hotel at Medlow, redolent with Blue Mountains fresh air and reputed to be close to health-giving springs. The elaborate Federation-style property had been opened as a hotel in 1891 and was advertised in the Illustrated Sydney News as being the first place in the Blue Mountains with electricity, which not only supplied water and power to the hotel but to a further 100 houses in the vicinity. Foy had visited many spas on his overseas travels for the relief of his digestive problems and, although at times he had doubts about the viability of the project, he hoped the concept would catch on in Australia.
accommodation were key innovations, with the Boiler House which included a boiler sourced by Foy from the 1879 Exhibition Building in Sydney becoming quite an attraction for visitors. Hydropathic facilities were housed in the lower floor of Hargreaves’ house and the castellated Delmonte Hallway. Innovation was everywhere. In addition to the boiler, the hotel featured its own sewerage treatment works, water plant and early telephone system, while Mark Foy’s dairy farm and market garden at the bottom of the escarpment provided fresh produce daily via a gravity-operated flying fox mechanism. The official opening of the sanatorium was held on 4 July 1904, and was acknowledged as a ‘first’ of its type. Foy enticed a Dr George Baur from Switzerland, who arrived via a quick look at Smedley’s in England to replicate the range and scope of medicinal and healthy treatments so popular in Europe. The Medlow Bath Hydropathic Bath Book, 1904, was filled with advice on dietary restrictions, the need for plenty of sleep, avoiding cheeses and alcoholic beverages – and warnings against talking about one’s ailments with others! Eighty-three different treatments were offered, including the slightly worrying Electrical Treatment. By 1906 however, it was becoming clear to Foy that Australians were not taking to hydropathic treatments with the same fervour as seen overseas. He successfully re-positioned the sanatorium as a luxury hotel with opulence, entertainment and exotic touches, but his interest was waning. He leased the hotel to the Hon James Joynton Smith, whose ownership of the Carrington Hotel and Imperial Hotel, chief competitors to the Hydro, did not augur well for the latter. In 1922,a major bushfire destroyed the Belgravia Hotel and both levels of most of the Belgravia Wing. The Blue Mountains Echo (18 August 1922) reported ‘the damage, which included the art gallery and the whole of its contents, being estimated at between £20,000 and £50,000’.
In 1923, Foy resumed control over the hotel. It was refurbished and re-opened, this time changing its appeal to ‘ordinary folk’, as a ‘handsome hostelry with good plain and plenty eats’. More accommodation and facilities were added and enjoyed by working people and particularly honeymooners, who took advantage of the lower rates. In 1935 well-known artist and painter Arnold Zimmerman replaced his 1920s Art Deco interiors in the Casino with murals and a style which reflected the new positioning of the Hydro as a family hotel. The 1930s saw extensive redecoration and the construction of new facilities, partly funded from 1936 when Foy floated the hotel as a public company. More development work took place in 1940 and 1941, and during WW2 from 1942 to 1943 the hotel was requisitioned to become the base for the US 118th General Hospital, with the American flag raised to denote its new use. The army vacated the hotel in 1943 and it remained closed for six months before re-opening as a hotel, its refurbishment funded by Australian Government compensation. An additional attraction for tourists was the natural history and native art collection, assembled by naturalist and marine collector Charles Melbourne Ward. Operating from 1943 out of a disused army Recreation Room he delighted visitors for years, with his eclectic exhibits ranging from thousands of crabs to Japanese war weapons, and walking tours exploring native flora and fauna peppered with aboriginal stories.
user-friendly to day visitors ensured the profitability of the hotel at a time when motor cars, rail and day trips were making overnight hotel stays unnecessary. With Mark Foy’s death on 15 November 1950, further large-scale development ceased for approximately 30 years. By the 1970s despite frequent attempts at revitalisation, the hotel was beginning to show its age. Ad hoc additions, deterioration and changing public expectations contributed to the decline. Superficial changes, such as painting the formerly white hotel orange in 1984, couldn’t hide the fact that the erstwhile health resort and luxury hotel urgently needed its own face-lift in order to survive. In 2008 with the acquisition of the now-named Hydro-Majestic Hotel by the current owners, plans for that face-lift began in earnest. The hotel closed its doors in 2008, left frozen in time. From the documentation of thousands of artefacts left behind as the last guests and staff departed, to the development and realisation of the new concept to take the hotel into the future while protecting its character and heritage, it has been a long and complex project. For the future of the hotel, tourism in the Blue Mountains and the experiences that lie ahead – the potential is vast. References: historic data has been edited from Hydro Majestic Hotel, Medlow Bath, Conservation Management Plan July 2010, Graham Brookes & Associates Pty Ltd
In 1947, a new Streamline Moderne style main entrance and lounge known as the Belgravia Entry was added. With its huge windows overlooking the valley below, fireplace, central heating and relaxed spaces for entertaining, it became a favourite spot for locals to gather. Other refurbishments at this time to make the hotel
In the same year he leased the neighbouring property, a house with extensive grounds and walking tracks owned by William Henry Hargreaves. He later bought it and, in 1903, consolidated his holdings with the purchase of the c1900 property in the vicinity, known as Tucker’s Cottage. In 1903, he launched the idea of a hydropathic sanatorium on his site by petitioning NSW Railways to re-name Medlow station as Medlow Bath. Following the model of Smedley’s hydropathic establishment in Matlock, England, with which he had been particularly impressed, Foy embarked upon his plans to link the Belgravia and Hargreaves’ house with accommodation and a promenade. In 1903 the elaborate Federation Free Style Casino was constructed using a pre-fabricated, steel-frame structure. It is not known whether this was imported from Detroit, where he had seen a similar building, or from an English firm which he also contacted. Also dating from this time was Hargravia, which included Cat’s Alley and served as a gallery for the extensive collection of valuable artworks including sculptures installed by Foy. The Billiard Room and Hallway, Laundry, Cellar, Boiler House, Ice House and 8
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THIS PAGE: The Dining Room now the Majestic Ballroom 1946-52 Photo source: Jim Smith | How it will look on completion Photo: CRD Design PAGE OPPOSITE Insert: the Casino in the 1930s | The new-look Casino restores the original white walls, retains early artworks and yet creates an ambiance which is of today. Photo: CRD Design
The Project Team
Architect: Ashkan Mostaghim: Mostaghim & Associates Heritage Consultant: Jonathan Bryant: Graham Brookes & Associates Interior Designer: Peter Reeve CRD Project Management: Drenka Andjelic + Toby Meredith Construction Assignments
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