Traditional Aussie Hotels

Before WW II, before chain hotels and motels, there was nonetheless reliable accomodation in every Australian town. This took the form of a hotel, with rooms upstairs and a pub/restaurant on the ground floor...also a bottle shop in most cases. These places are institutions and are still widespread, especially in country towns. I have never stayed in one myself; in most cases the rooms have shared baths, and I'm a little spoilt on that case, and the bars can be a little rough; if you encounter a bloke who's been on the turps and has gotten pissed, he could go a-hooning and give you a knuckle sandwich. This is an art deco hotel in St George, Queensland.

Here's the Hotel Cunnamulla, about 300 km W of St George and 250 km N of Bourke. Nowadays, you can do electronic betting on the horses and play the pokies (poker machines) in many of these old hotels as well as skull a few tinnies of the amber fluid and hang out with your mates.

This is an old hotel on the main street in Bourke, a couple blocks from the Riverside Motel where I stayed.