It is not widely known that one of Perth's most popular inner-city hotels, the Parmelia Hilton, is the result of an English businessman complaining about the lack of world-class hospitality establishments in Perth 40 years ago.
It is not widely known that one of Perth's most popular inner-city hotels, the Parmelia Hilton, is the result of an English businessman complaining about the lack of world-class hospitality establishments in Perth 40 years ago.
In the midst of the 1960s resources boom, Sir Halford Reddish, chairman of the UK-based Rugby Portland Cement Company and a frequent visitor to Western Australia, asked the then minister for industrial development, Charles Court, why Perth didn't have any first-class hotels.
At the time, the Adelphi Hotel, which was to be replaced by the Parmelia, was one Perth's top hotels.
"For a state on the move, with millions invested in mining, is this the best you can do in hotels?" Sir Reddish asked Mr Court, as reported in a book published for the hotel's 10-year anniversary.
"Why don't you build one?" said Mr Court.
The McAlpine family's civil engineering group joined Sir Reddish, and with local architects Oldham Boas Ednie-Brown and Partners, Perth's first five-star hotel was built, replacing the 30-year-old Adelphi.
The hotel was named after the 444 tonne barque, The Parmelia, which in 1829 sailed from England to Perth with 150 people who were among the first settlers to Perth.
The hotel offered 141 rooms including four penthouses and a royal suite.
It was the first hotel in WA to introduce the now famous smorgasbord, as well as offering a steakhouse and an a la carte menu.
At the time, the Parmelia was one of only two hotels in Australia that offered what was called 'room and bath' for all guests.
"When it first opened it was a very exclusive hotel, you couldn't enter the lobby if you didn't have business jacket and a tie...it was inspired by the Dorchester Hotel in London, the way it was built, it has a fairly intimate lobby not one of these big atriums, a lot of other similarities," director of business development and 25 year-long employee, David Constantine, said.
As a result of the strong demand, in 1972 Premier John Tonkin officially opened a $6 million extension which doubled the capacity of the hotel and added a swimming pool, shopping mall and banquet floor.
The Parmelia appealed to world-class hospitality staff from its beginning.
The first general manager was Donald McLean, who served at the Ritz in Paris; his successors, Ralph Voigt and Hans Hauri, were both graduates from the Ecole Hoteliere of Lausanne in Switzerland, the training mecca for luxury hotel management.
In 1979, the Parmelia became part of Hilton Hotels International.
"The Hilton had already opened in Melbourne and Sydney and we were fast growing in Australia.Perth was certainly on the horizon for Hilton, it was a place that was going to develop even further," Parmelia Hilton general manager Ruth Harrison said.
Mrs Harrison said that one of the most difficult times that the Parmelia Hilton went through was the airline pilots dispute that affected Australia in the late 1980s.
Parmelia Hilton marketing manager Julia Clark said that the hotel has been at the core of Perth's business and community history.
"It has been such a part of Perth for years, there are so many people here who have memories of meeting at Margo's or having dinner in the garden restaurant.
"We estimate that about 5,000 people have been married at the hotel, meetings and so many decisions have been made here."
