One of my photography passions is photographing some of our country's old buildings, this is one is packed with history. Hotel de Brett's is located on the corner of Shortland Street and High Street, it's listed as category 2 under the Historic Places Trust.
These days it's a boutique hotel but it first opened in 1841 known as "The Old Commercial" being Auckland's first hotel. It operated for 118 years until a fire burned most of it down, Dominion Breweries refurbished it in 1959 and renamed it what it is today.
In the 1980s I worked in Auckland city for about 1 years and remember this old icon well as it has hosted many kiwi bands such as Th'Dudes and Hello Sailor. In the late 1980s it became a backpackers hostel then in 2006 four hoteliers returned it to it's former glory.
The interior is a mixture of NZ art and design with retro 1950's chairs and couches - I'm pleased it's still being used personally. As for the spots on the road I've since found out that Auckland City Council had them painted due to this particular place being being a high pedestrian used road. They are meant to draw awareness from all road users to be sensitive to other road users - it's a good idea and should be used in other places too I think.
Linking up with Our World Tuesday.
