EIGHT-and-a-half years after work had begun on the Peninsula Hotel, it finally opened its doors to guests on December 11, 1928. It had been scheduled to open in 1924, but there had been many delays including the unexpected presence of ground water, and it became necessary to sink 600 piles to prop up the foundations.
In 1927, when it was ready for occupation, the hotel was commandeered by the British Army, and the Coldstream Guards and the Devonshire Regiment moved in. There had been riots in Hong Kong the previous year and a civil war was raging in China.
When the army left in 1927 a complete renovation was needed. All the bathtubs had to be replaced. 'They must have kept their guns in them!' remarked the hotel's Chief Engineer, Clifton Triggs.
The opening ceremony was a grand affair. The South China Morning Post reported that: 'The furnishings and interior decorations were exceedingly attractive and it seemed that no effort had been spared to provide guests with everything that might be desired. To speak of one instance alone, there are no fewer than five pianos in the building.' Everybody was not so enthusiastic about the opulent splendour of the hotel. The Acting Governor, Thomas Southorn, in his opening speech remarked: 'Opinions may differ as to the architecture and decoration: some may prefer a Spartan simplicity, some the sumptuousness of an eastern palace - but there can be no two opinions as to the arrangements made for the hygienic cleanliness of the hotel and everything connected with it.' Mr Southorn, who had pretensions to culture, was probably afraid of what Virginia Woolf, his wife's sister-in-law, would say if he lavished praise on the Cinque-cento decor. Fate has a way of punishing intellectual snobs. Southorn Playground, in Wan Chai, is named after him.
