Durban - The old picture today features the Hillcrest Hotel, an institution in the village of which many residents have fond memories. Part of a series we are doing on the village, the picture from the Facebook page Durban Down Memory Lane shows the hotel in the 1950s when Hillcrest was still spelt Hill Crest.
It was built by David Domenic Fregona, one of the early pioneers of the village, in the early 1930s and was designed by Ing and Jackson, the architects who designed the Lion Match factory, in 1930. At the time the village was a “recommended health resort by leading doctors”.
On Durban Down Memory Lane, Anita Heyns tells how her “Italian grandfather” built and owned the hotel. “I remember the beautiful gardens at the back where you could sit and order whatever you wanted. The garden was full of beautiful hydrangeas. My dad and mom had their wedding reception at the hotel,” she writes.
Robert Howard Jones says his father and brother bought it in about 1950. “They owned it for a couple of years. I remember the Fregona name being mentioned,” he writes.
Tony Hind grew up in the hotel. “My folks owned the Hillcrest Hotel from around 1967 to about 1973 and I lived in room 17 which opened out onto the front balcony. We sold to Ray Roberts, who was father-in-law to Ray de Vries.
“My folks transformed it from an ‘old aged home’ into quite a hot spot by Hillcrest standards. I remember the ‘dinner dances on Saturday nights and Teds Combo and the cabaret artists who entertained diners ‒ in particular I should mention Glenda Kemp, the infamous stripper with her python Oupa. She was banned from stripping in Durban but we managed to keep her under the radar.
“Colin, my step dad, used to invite the SAP officers over for a drink to watch the show. On the nights they had been instructed to raid the hotel, they would warn Colin and he would reschedule the show to enable them to conduct the raid and have enough time to get back in civvies to watch the show…. what a life it was,” he writes.
Paul Vermaak remembers working the evening shifts for six months in 1988/89 when De Vries owned the hotel and tells of some of its many characters. “I used to work in Durban during the day, drive home by 5.30, walk over to the hotel to start at 6pm and manage it until the last drunk reeled out, usually between 3am-4am. Then I’d walk home, have a shower to get the smell of smoke out my hair, sleep until 7am and then head off for my day job,” he writes.
“I got to know a lady called Ginger who was apparently a tank driver in World War II. She had bright red hair that we all thought was dyed. One day as she left the dining hall, an Indian mynah dive bombed her and caught its feet in her hair. To everyone’s surprise, the mynah took off with her wig. Ray had to climb the tree to retrieve it,” he says.
“It was a real Fawlty Towers.
“There was a skinny fellow with long hair who had a hot dog stand outside. One side of his face was frozen. He said he got a lift on the back of a bakkie one winter night from Pinetown to Hillcrest. By the time he hopped off the one side of his face was numb and he never could smile again.
“Johnny MacGreggor used to play guitar. In the morning he pointed a finger up and that meant a beer. In the late afternoon he started pointing his finger sideways and that meant a G&T. After dinner he’d be pointing a finger down which was an order for a liqueur (Cointreau usually).
“There were some real stale warts (sic) there. The one bar lady’s nickname was ‘neizenteit’ because she lived on white wine and would become nice and tight. Then there was Pat Clampitt who reminded me of Norm from Cheers. He had a face like melting plasticine and gulped one white wine after the next,” he writes
Tim Kilpin remembers the days when the great marathon runner Willie Mtolo was the at the hotel. And it was many of the local customers who assisted Mtolo on his road to athletic success.
In a story told to Runner’s World, in the mid-1980s De Vries owned the hotel, but his involvement in road running was limited to Comrades race-day functions. “It was the only day we made any money,” he says.
Then Willie Mtolo arrived unannounced and asked the receptionist for a room. He’d been sent there by the chairman of a running club in the area who had noticed Mtolo’s potential.
This being the mid-1980s, with apartheid laws such as the Group Areas Act in full swing, De Vries was not allowed to have black guests at his hotel. But he cared little for the laws of the day, and checked Mtolo in. “I’ll never forget: Room 11A. We put Willie in there,” he said.
Other famous guests according to banter on Durban Down Memory Lane, may have included Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton staying there on their honeymoon to SA, although no-one could confirm this.
Other memories include many attending the local schools bunking out for an illegal tipple.
Gavin Lawrie tells how he was caught having a beer there. “A friend, James Morgan, and I bunked out of school. Boarder-master Mike Leffler, walked in and saw us. A terrifying 12 hours later we found ourselves in assembly at school, and were called to the front. Feeling faint, the headmaster announced that we were the first runners to beat Kearsney College in cross-country and urged the school to applaud our achievement. A glance at Mike Leffler showed him winking and wagging a finger.”
Today, while the façade of the original hotel has been kept, it has become part of the Colony Centre, as photographer Shelley Kjonstad’s pictures show.
PS: I remember exiting the hotel with a friend somewhat hastily through the gents bathroom window after a couple of boarder masters walked in one Saturday night when we were supposed to be watching the Saturday night movie.in the Henderson Hall.
The Independent on Saturday