Some hotels are salubrious, some are better termed as 'flea pits', but then there's the Palace Hotel smack-bang in the middle of Kalgoolie. This icon of a former age not only has a name that belies its obvious former status, it is also a hotel with stories to tell.
In the late 1890’s, Kalgoorlie’s streets were a flurry of construction and development as the wealth generated in the gold mines was flaunted in grand and impressive architecture. The Palace Hotel, built in 1897 was designed to be the most luxurious hotel outside of Perth.
As one popular story goes; former US President, Herbert Hoover, worked in the Kalgoolie goldfields for several years when he was a young mining engineer. During this time he reportedly fell in love with a barmaid at the Palace Hotel before leaving to marry his college sweetheart and later rising to take the American Presidency in 1929. In memory of his special years as a patron of the Palace Hotel he gifted a elaborately carved mirror that still stands in the foyer of the hotel.
One night in the town screamed for more and has prompted the Bazflyers to append Kalgoolie to their visit again list.
The Palace Hotel
Herbert Hover's elaborate mirror gifted in memory of the beautiful barmaid
Mining means holes in the ground and there's plenty of them like this one visable when flying into Kalgoolie airport
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