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The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels: A Brief History 香港上海大酒店簡史
The development of up-market hotels across Asia was a response to the growing popularity of steamship travel in the mid to late nineteenth century. Great ocean liners transported a new breed of leisure traveller across the world, eagerly seeking adventure whilst cocooned in the same luxury and hospitality afforded to guests in a first-class hotel. Following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the first direct passage between Europe and Asia, Hong Kong soon became a connecting port for several important European-Asia sea routes. Before the 1860s, Hong Kong had relatively little to offer by way of tourist accommodation. The Hongkong Hotel Company, incorporated in 1866, signified a turning point in the port's nascent tourist trade and provided Hong Kong with its first luxury hotel in 1868.
在十九世紀中葉至末期，郵輪旅遊日漸盛行，亞洲許多高級酒店亦於此時應運而生。當時愛上這新鮮玩意的旅客乘坐豪華遠洋郵輪環遊世界，在探奇歷險之餘同時享受跟五星級酒店沒兩樣的尊尚服務及舒適環境。蘇彜士運河於1869年啓用，打通了歐亞大陸中間的水路，香港位於數條主要歐亞航綫的交匯點，很快便成爲亞洲的航運中心。在1860年代之前，香港有的只是小型賓館旅店，供旅客居停的設施可說是乏善足陳。至1866年香港酒店公司成立，並於1868年創辦了城中第一間高級酒店，本港旅遊業從此揭開新的一章。
Hongkong Hotel
香港酒店
在十九世紀中葉至末期，郵輪旅遊日漸盛行，亞洲許多高級酒店亦於此時應運而生。當時愛上這新鮮玩意的旅客乘坐豪華遠洋郵輪環遊世界，在探奇歷險之餘同時享受跟五星級酒店沒兩樣的尊尚服務及舒適環境。蘇彜士運河於1869年啓用，打通了歐亞大陸中間的水路，香港位於數條主要歐亞航綫的交匯點，很快便成爲亞洲的航運中心。在1860年代之前，香港有的只是小型賓館旅店，供旅客居停的設施可說是乏善足陳。至1866年香港酒店公司成立，並於1868年創辦了城中第一間高級酒店，本港旅遊業從此揭開新的一章。
Hongkong Hotel
香港酒店
Situated directly on the Central waterfront at the heart of Hong Kong's bustling business and shipping district, the Hongkong Hotel was soon recognised as ‘the most commodious and best-appointed hotel in the Far East' following its opening in 1868. The hotel became one of Hong Kong's most favoured institutions and was home to the famous 'Gripps' bar, a hot spot for balls, tea and dinner dances where dignitaries, businessmen, stockbrokers and international travellers of the day would meet.
香港酒店座落於中環海傍，位處香港最繁榮的商務及船運中心，啟業後很快便贏得「遠東規模最大、設備最佳的酒店」之美譽，酒店連同其中的Gripps酒吧亦成為城中焦點，除了是舉辦舞會的熱門場地外，更是城中名流、宏商巨賈及旅港貴客聚首一堂的地方。
Hongkong Hotel grill room menu, 1920
香港酒店扒房餐牌，1920年
In the nineteenth century, the port of Shanghai was the commercial capital of China and the largest port and industrial centre in the Far East. With its rich trade, Shanghai attracted budding tycoons and adventurers from around the world as well as visitors enticed by the city's famous dance halls, theatres and the majestic Bund. All European and American steamship lines trading to the East made Shanghai a port of call for their steamers.
Central Stores Limited was established in 1896 and marked a revolution in the nature of hotel keeping in Shanghai. In 1909 the Company opened the Palace Hotel, majestically situated on the Bund and Nanking Road, known as the 'Oxford Street of the East'.
在十九世紀，作為通商口岸的上海市除了稱得上是中國的商貿首都外，更是遠東區最大的港口及工業中心。蓬勃的商機令上海成為來自世界各地冒險家的樂園，而它著名的舞廳、劇院以及獨一無二的外灘亦吸引了不少慕名而至的遊客。當時差不多所有東來的歐美郵輪都以上海作為停泊港。
創辦於1896年的匯中洋行，可說是為上海酒店業掀起了一場革命。洋行於1909年在號稱「東方牛津街」的外灘南京路開設了匯中飯店。
Palace Hotel, Shanghai
上海匯中飯店
In 1915, Central Stores, later renamed The Shanghai Hotels, Limited, purchased the Astor House Hotel (established in 1858) under the drive and vision of newly elected board member and shareholder Edward I. Ezra. The hotel was considered the most luxurious hotel in Shanghai during its heyday, with a famed ballroom that played host to new Jazz Age dances and the popular Argentinian 'tango teas' craze of the early 1900s. The Herald touted the ballroom as the finest in Shanghai, with murals in cream and white matte highlighted with gold, and a polished oak floor 'in beautiful condition for dancing'.
在新任董事及股東愛士拉（Edward I. Ezra）的策動下，匯中洋行（後易名上海酒店有限公司）在1915年買入建於1858年的禮查飯店。禮查飯店在全盛時期被公認為全市最豪華的大飯店，它的宴會廳更被「北華捷報」形容爲上海舞場中的極致，廳內米白燙金的壁畫襯托着晶亮的橡木地板，瑰麗不可方物，亦是體驗爵士樂年代最新舞步及1900年代初大熱的阿根廷式探戈茶舞的勝地。
Astor House Hotel, Shanghai
上海禮查飯店
The Hongkong Hotel Company's new Managing Director James Taggart had previously managed the Hongkong Hotel and was again selected by the Company to build a new hotel in Repulse Bay. Taggart's idea was to provide an opportunity for sun weary travellers to rest and relax in the calm, clear waters of the Repulse Bay and to enjoy the full benefits of a luxurious hotel sited nearby. The Repulse Bay opened on New Year's Day 1920 at an event attended by Hong Kong's elite including Governor Sir Reginald Stubbs and nearly every motor car in the city.
曾經負責管理香港酒店的James Taggart經驗老到，所以在出任香港酒店公司總裁後不久即被委派於淺水灣興建一所全新酒店。淺水灣水清沙幼，年中吸引不少特地前來享受和煦陽光的旅客，他的理念就是為這些遊人在附近提供頂級酒店的豪華設施。酒店終於在1920年元旦啓業，並成爲城中盛事，不少達官貴人都有出席典禮，其中包括港督司徒拔，而全城的轎車亦差不多都傾巢而出。
Repulse Bay Hotel
淺水灣酒店
By the 1930s, Hong Kong had acquired the reputation of 'The Riviera of the Orient', a place where travellers could enjoy a perfect winter climate of sunny days and cool, peaceful nights. This new-found status was in part thanks to the gracious surroundings of the Repulse Bay Hotel and later, the Repulse Bay Lido which opened in 1935 to much fanfare and excitement. The addition of seashore pastimes during the day and open-air dancing to the exotic sounds of a South Seas orchestra at night provided the city's residents with a much-anticipated new destination.
香港在1930年代贏得「東方里維埃拉」的稱號，西方遊客格外欣賞香港的怡人冬日，早上陽光普照，晚上天氣清涼。而當年香港得以豎立這個嶄新形象，環境優雅的淺水灣酒店，以及在1935年隆重揭幕的麗都海浴娛樂場實在功不可沒。遊人在彼處除了可以享受日間的海邊風情外，夜間還有露天舞榭，可以隨著南海濤聲盡情酣舞，是一個惹人流連的好去處。
Repulse Bay Beach
淺水灣海灘
The Repulse Bay Hotel continued to win the hearts and minds of the literati until it finally closed its doors in 1982.
淺水灣酒店於1982年結業，之前一直都是騷人墨客的至愛。
Guests enjoying the ambience and food at The Garden of the Repulse bay Hotel
顧客在淺水灣酒店花園享受氣氛和美食
Following Ezra's death in 1921 and the sudden passing of Board member Ellis Kadoorie in 1922, The Hongkong Hotel Company acquired The Shanghai Hotels, Limited - marking the historic birth of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (HSH) in 1923. HSH now controlled some of the most exceptional hotel properties in China and Hong Kong, and with the arrival of The Peninsula Hotel in 1928, its reputation for luxury and excellence was cemented.
愛士拉與及香港酒店董事艾利嘉道理分別於1921年及1922年離世，在1923年香港酒店公司購入上海酒店有限公司，合併成爲香港上海大酒店有限公司，坐擁香港及中國一些最出色的大酒店，直至1928年半島酒店開幕，公司業務與聲望都更上層樓。
Luggage label of Hongkong Hotel
香港酒店的行李標貼
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Hong Kong, like Shanghai, was facing a serious shortage of hotel accommodation. To meet this demand, the Hong Kong Government decided to build a new hotel at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula, opposite the railway terminus and close to the quays of Kowloon. It was the railway station, with its steam engines connecting Hong Kong to Europe via Beijing or Moscow, which ultimately made the site an ideal location for a grand railway hotel.
在二十世紀初，香港如上海一樣酒店住宿嚴重不足。當時香港政府覺得有需要在九龍半島南端，毗鄰火車總站並貼近九龍的輪船碼頭的位置建立一間新酒店。由於從車站可以乘搭火車取道北京或莫斯科直達歐洲，因此在這位置興建豪華鐵路酒店最理想不過。
The Peninsula Hotel was built opposite the railway terminus
30年代半島酒店Verandah餐廳的露台
Envisaged as a catalyst for the wider development of Kowloon, this prospective hotel project was soon open to investors to bid. In 1922 HSH Chairman A.R. Lewis announced the Company’s intention to build 'an up-to-date hotel with accommodation for 500 guests'. The hotel was designed by prominent architects and civil engineers from the Hong Kong Realty and Trust Company Ltd., with interior decoration including modelled fibrous plaster, stained glass, and bronze and metal work being taken care of by Arts & Crafts Limited of Shangha.
這個被視為九龍發展催化劑的酒店項目公開徵求投資者，而香港上海大酒店的主席A. R. Lewis在1922年宣布公司意向，計劃在彼處興建一所劃時代、可容納500位人客的大酒店。項目聘用香港置業信託有限公司的名建築師及工程師主理，室內設計則由上海美藝公司負責。
Peninsula under construction in 1925
1925年尚在興建中的半島酒店
Following years of protracted construction work, the Peninsula Hotel finally opened its doors on 11 December 1928 to the greatest party of the decade. James Taggart gave a cheerful welcoming address remarking that 'this edifice may justly be regarded as not only a worthy addition to the everyday life of the residents of the Colony, but also (in view of its location as a gateway of this great port) as an establishment which may be fairly expected to enhance the popularity of the Colony by affording to transient visitors.'
經過漫長的建造工程，半島酒店終於在1928年12月11日隆重揭幕，並舉辦了一個盛況空前的宴會誌慶。當日James Taggart在致辭中言道：「這所建築物位處香港通往國際的大門，它除了會為本地民生平添姿彩外，更將大大提升香港對外國遊客的吸引力。」
The Peninsula Hotel
早期的半島酒店
The arrival of the Peninsula hailed a new era in Hong Kong's social calendar as the hotel became the focal point for the city's dances and balls, with Sunday concerts, nightly dinners on the terrace and twice weekly dinners in the Rose Room quickly filling the diaries of Hong Kong's rich and powerful.
半島酒店的開幕為香港的社交界揭開新篇章。在半島舉行的大小舞會、周日音樂會、每天的露台晚餐及每周兩次的玫瑰廳晚膳都使城中權貴趨之若鶩。
The Rose Room in the 1930s
30年代後期玫瑰廳一景
The Lobby in particular quickly became the place to see and be seen. Having started life as a tea lounge, the Lobby became a popular rendezvous for locals and travellers alike. Graceful Romanesque arches with slender columns, hand wrought bronze grill work, delicate marble-carvings and heavy velvet drapes extended from ceiling to floor across the entire frontage of the Lobby. The Lobby was Hong Kong's arena for society ladies, businessmen, travellers and residents: a meeting place for the rich from both East and West. It was where society gossip was relayed and Peninsula legends made.
半島酒店大堂早期已設有茶座，並很快成為香港最時髦的消閒場所，吸引不少本地客人和外地旅客。大堂置有羅馬風拱門圓柱、手工鍛造的古銅裝飾及精緻的雲石雕刻，而整個前台都掛上厚重的落地絲絨幕簾。本地的各界仕女、商賈，以及來自世界各地的貴客都愛在此茶聚，交流社交情報，締造了不少半島傳奇。
The Lobby, just before the hotel opened
酒店開幕前大堂一景
With the inception of efficient, comfortable and speedy mass air travel in the post-war years, the Lobby became the natural home for the major airline companies of the day. Following minor construction work and the hanging of a BOAC shingle where the Moorish Bar once stood, the Peninsula Hotel became the world's first city-centre check-in terminal –ready to welcome a new clientele of international travellers.
乘坐飛機快捷、方便又舒適，因此航空客運業在戰後開始大行其道，，而半島酒店大堂亦順利成章成為各大航空公司的集中地。經過簡單改裝，掛上招牌，以往的Moorish Bar變成英國海外航空公司的櫃檯，而半島大堂就成為了全球首個市區預辦登機服務中心，接待又一個新世代的國際旅客。
Airline counters took over west side of hotel lobby in the 1950s
50年代半島酒店西翼盡是航空公司櫃台
Further information is available at The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels website: www.hshgroup.com.
欲知更多有關香港上海大酒店的資訊，請瀏覽集團網站：www.hshgroup.com 。
The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels: A Brief History 香港上海大酒店簡史. Hong Kong Heritage Project, accessed 30/05/2023, https://www.hongkongheritage.org/nodes/view/25812
