Notes from an old hotel finding its feet again — the restoration, the seasons on the trail, and the occasional editorial contribution from the cat.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from all of us in Hyde — and a small update, since a few of you have asked how the old place is getting on.
Our first proper season on the Rail Trail has come and gone, and the hotel is very much back among the living. We’ve had cyclists through in their bright shirts, families escaping the heat, and a steady stream of people who simply wanted somewhere quiet to sit and do nothing at all. The cafe has found its feet, the coffee machine has learned our ways, and dinner in the lounge has become the part of the day we look forward to most.
There’s still plenty of building to do — there always is with a place this age — but it’s starting to feel less like a project and more like a hotel. Thank you to everyone who stayed, ate, chatted, and put up with the occasional bit of scaffolding. We couldn’t have asked for a warmer first year.
Here’s to a good summer. The kettle’s on.
The trials and tribulations of restoring a historic hotel, in one honest sentence: it is more roof than you think, and then a little more roof after that.
When we took on the Old Hyde Hotel, the bones were good and almost everything else needed a look. We’ve worked in careful stages — roofing first, then windows, then the slow patient business of plastering — keeping the character and the quirks, and letting go only of the draughts. The Dunedin Heritage Fund has been in our corner throughout, which has made all the difference.
Progress is measured in small, satisfying wins: a window that finally opens, a fireplace that draws properly, a floorboard that has stopped complaining. The cat supervises all of it from the sill and has, so far, approved.