What’s unique about the Shakespeare building?
Original Staircase, Old Cold Room, Longest Verandah – plus more
Marvel at the original staircase, sit in The Old Cold Room and walk out onto the front verandah for a fantastic view
Thing to Do – Have your photo taken on the stairs
Timber staircase
The Hotel Shakespeare is one of the few hotels still operating with such a beautiful set of original timber stairs.
Flights
Originally there were two flights, each facing a main entrance on the ground floor.
Regrettably, one flight was demolished.
Posts
We have been very fortunate to have the original two end posts returned to the hotel (thanks Gavin Donaldson!)
Style
Made in the American style, probably in Canada or America and shipped to Australia for installation in the hotel in 1925.
Timber
The timbers are oak, probably Canadian or American, according to visiting experts
Not painted
Thankfully, the stairs were not painted in the past!
A Verandah with a View
Thing to Do – experience it for yourself
Sit on the longest verandah with views of the main street, the Tree of Knowledge, the historical Barcaldine Railway Station and the amazing sunsets
Why not take your drink up onto the verandah?
Thing to Do – Sit in The Old Cold Room
Original cool room facility
The Old Cold Room was once in the centre of the old corner bar – built circa 1953 – still in its original place.
When the bar counter was repurposed and moved to a more central position in 2023, the Old Cold Room was retained as a special place in which to sit and enjoy a drink.
A Bit of History – The Old Cold Room Transformation
Chilled to Chilled Out
From 2022-2024
More Original Iconic Features
Original plaster ceilings are still visible in the bedrooms, the Bar, Mrs Mahoney’s lounge as well as the Old Dining Room. Ceiling height is 13.1234 feet or close to 4 metres.
The ornate motif in the centre of some ceiling panels is typical of the style of the 1920s.
Until 1970 in Queensland, women were not allowed to drink in public bars. They were relegated to the Ladies Lounge. To buy drinks, they needed to wait at the servery opening until the publican or bar attendant took their order. They then took the drinks back to their table in the lounge.
It wasn’t a very high space, so women would have had to bend down for their faces to be seen and to place their orders. Was it deliberate that another part of a woman’s anatomy would have been visible in the bar?
The three ornate painted bar windows remain, now letting light in to Mrs Mahoney’s Lounge. Some of the colour on the western side has started to fade, but otherwise they are still eye-catching original features.
The sign for the Commercial Travellers Association was originally attached to one of the front posts, presumably to attract the reps as they drove into town. The hotel welcomed them to sell their wares in the hotel.
Although most of the original period furniture throughout the building – bedrooms, dining room -was sold off in the 1980s and 1990s, the silky oak dressing tables survived and are still part of the décor in the bedrooms.
The glass topped divider between the old bar and the ladies lounge is an unusual piece of interior architecture.
At some point, the glass panels at the top of the divider had been painted over, probably when the evaporative air conditioner was installed above a false ceiling. Now that the ceiling has been removed, the original decorative plaster ceiling is once again on show.
The fire escape ladders hung from the top rail of the upstairs balustrade. They were in two parts, joined midway, with the bottom section behind the top section.
In the event of a fire, a person on the ground was required to pull down the bottom section to make a longer ladder that almost reached the ground.
Then those fleeing the fire would be able to escape.
