Theatre Royal Hotel, Hobart

[THYLACINE]

Went down to Hobart recently and stayed at the Theatre Royal Hotel. The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Australia (1834) and the hotel next door opened the same year. The wife and I were the only guests staying there at the time as there were no major productions on at the theatre. So when the hotel closed at about 10 pm and the proprietor and staff went home, as no one lived on the premises, we had the whole place to ourselves until the cleaner came at 8 o'clock next morning. It was just a little bit scary, with the dimly lit passageways, the creaky stairs and the smell of old varnished woodwork. Downstairs they had locked the doors to the 2 bars, to the kitchen and to the corridor through to the theatre. I was glad about that as I could not get the music to 'Phantom of the Opera' out of my head! My wife took the attached photos of old theatre posters which were hanging in the passageways downstairs.

It was a most memorable experience but next time I think we'll stay at the Regent!