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Produced and published by the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne
Published July 2008
Published July 2008
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This St Kilda hotel opened on 7 January 1878 and has entertained Melburnians for over a century. Built by businessman and politician James Orkney, its Renaissance Revival style reflected Melbourne's prosperity and self-confidence. Visitors could stay in one of the hotel's 50 rooms and relax in one of the many sitting rooms or the billiard room. A separate bar in the north-west corner of the building catered for non-residents.
During the 1920s, licensee Thomas Carlyon built a ballroom at the rear of the hotel which became one of St Kilda's most popular entertainment venues. It was replaced by the Cairo apartments, renamed Baymor, in 1929. The façade of the hotel was also remodelled at this time and bay windows installed. In 1940 the hotel was advertised as 'Victoria's Leading Seaside Hotel', but its glamour faded in the following years, along with St Kilda's reputation.
By the 1970s, it had evolved into a venue for alternative rock music and a focal point for the local artistic community. From the 1980s, the 'Espy' was at the centre of redevelopment debate, proposals to redevelop the site including multi-storey buildings and the conversion of the hotel into a gaming venue. Community resistance and increasingly stringent local planning controls succeeded in blocking proposals deemed unsympathetic to the history, architecture and culture of the hotel and its environs.
In 2001, the hotel was sold under a 200-year leasehold. It became exempt from development plans for the site, though not unaffected by them. Years of dispute over the future of the Esplanade Hotel took their toll on the building, which continues nevertheless to operate as one of Melbourne's premier live music venues, luring visitors to the seaside with the promise of a good time.