Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The (formerly) Grand Hotel

I love this graffiti, and this one is a real depiction of the vibe now going on inside, some cool Afro-Jazz takes place there. But as you can see, the place is pretty run down. In the past it lived up to its name. It was a Grand Hotel in a wonderful old historic building. Hopefully the move towards urban renewal in this part of town will include restoring this once gracious old lady, without losing the cool new ambience of the Jazz club.

12 comments:

  1. What a neat mural. . . I, too, hope they restore the area but leave the mural.

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  2. Wow, lovely mural! I also like afro-jazz a lot! I'd like to be in this atmosperic jazz club!

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  3. What a fab graffiti, I love the colour and the vibe it makes me feel GoooooooooD to be in Africa

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  4. I love graffiti. This is amazing work. Do they leave it or is it 'cleaned away' quickly.

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  5. great looking graffitti - the stuff we see around us is pretty dire and doesn't deserve preserving even in a photo. I'm sure you'll find a bridge for the theme day - it doesn't need to be spectacular; we've none of those either.

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  6. Nice mural! I am a huge fan of murals and graffiti, it's such a nice way to brighten up wall space--well not all graffiti is fun or nice but this is so cool (and I bet the music inside is too!)

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  7. Goodness! I can hardly believe this is the same place where I stayed as a kid in 1972... I well remember the old, original Grand Hotel as it was also my first encounter with Roquefort Cheese ;-) The latter still reminds me of the hotel somehow... I've not been to Port Elizabeth in ages and note that our travel community has no photos of it either. Perhaps you would care to upload some?
    Greetings from Cape Town,
    Pierre

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  8. mo, no it is permanent (well as permanent as the damp rotting walls will allow!)

    pj... thanks for the visit, nice to 'meet' someone who has stayed there! i think it still has associations with roquefort cheese, judging by the mildew and rotting walls, it probably smells just as mouldy!!!

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  9. LOL ... thanks for the feedback, Sam! Seems I'll have to visit PE again in the not-too-distant future and come see what it looks like lately... Passed through often during a recent stay in Port St Johns, but somehow never had the opportunity to explore PE properly.

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  10. It appears this hotel has been renovated. See www.greenhotelspe.co.za

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