-
Hotel Bulevard, Bucharest (Romania)
A photo from the good old days, on a reproduction card dated 2013 from Bucharest’s Municipal Museum. If you go to Google, as we did, you’ll find the building (at least) is still there, and called “Grand Hôtel du Boulevard” (maybe) but you will come away not knowing much else about it. Grade: 1
-
Hotel Athenee Palace, Piața Palatului Regal, Bucharest (Romania)
In front, Hotel Athénée Palace (now Athenee Palace Hilton; and, according to Wikipedia, a historic luxury hotel opened in 1914, arguably Europe’s most notorious den of spies in the years leading up to World War II, and only slightly less so during the Cold War.) on this unused reproduction card issued in 2013 by Bucharest’s Municipal Museum. Grade: 1
-
Olympic National Park, Lake Crescent from Lake Crescent Lodge (Washington, USA)
Unused card 40589 published by National Park Concessions. The lodge itself was built in 1915, and still there, but at the time we’re typing this, it’s “temporarily closed”. We’re guessing that’s just seasonal. Grade: 1
-
Nestor Falls (ON), Hanson’s Wilderness Lodges (Canada)
Now called Hanson’s Hideaway Lodge, and with fine online reviews … the property attached its name long ago to a generic Plastichrome design P12384, called “Indian Summer”. The card is clearly aging, but clean. Grade: 1
-
Jakarta, Welcome statue in front of Grant (sic) Hyatt, a main hotel
Two of these unused cards are available. You sort of need to know Jakarta in order to appreciate the caption, the statue, the fountain, and for that matter also the location. And of course they meant the “Grand Hyatt,” which really is a magnificent hotel. Grades: 1
-
Torino, Grande Albergo Svizzera (Italy)
We are wondering whether this hotel became what’s now the Piazza Castello Suite. Enough similarities between the then-and-now photos suggest so, and if you Google “Svizzera’ you will come away confused by so many entries. Anyway, unused and very old B&W postcard. Grade: 1
-
Oropa, Albergo Miramonti e Monte Mucrone (Italy)
Many other vendors date this card variously from 1949 through 1956. We have no idea, but ours is unused, clean, with serrated edges, and less expensive than the others. The hotel may not be there any more, though. Grade: 1
-
Fairmont Hotel, New Orleans (Louisiana, USA)
Unused. Grade: 1
-
New York City, Hotel Algonquin
Unused, somewhat aging card with serrated edges. Grade: 1
-
San Diego, Hotel del Coronado (California)
Unused old postcard of this “monarch of Western resort hotels”. The caption refers to “some three-quarters of a century”, and the hotel opened in 1888, so our math dates the postcard at around 1963. (And this is why we went to school.) Grade: 1
-
Copenhagen, Hotel Europa (Denmark)
Another of Ulfa’s unmailed cards with a short 1971 message on the back. We’re not certain if the hotel is still there or not. Grade: 3
-
Nameche, Hotel de la Verandah (Belgium)
What a great setting, and what an atmospheric picture, on a not-so-great undivided back card whose lower right corner is missing. For that matter, so is the stamp … but the 1904 postmark is there. Grade: 5
-
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Hotel Zugspitze (Germany)
Unused card from several years ago. Grade: 1
-
Luino, Albergo Verbiana e Viale Carmine (Italy)
Just try Googling and see what comes up for you … we ran out of patience, though we did find one hotel with a different name and different outlook whose core building looks just like this. So who knows? Unused real-photo B&W card, aging but Grade: 1
-
Sorrento, Hotel Tramontano e Porto (Italy)
It’s now the Imperial Hotel Tramontano, but existed earlier on this unused, B&W real-photo postcard with serrated edges. While we enter these cards, we get great pleasure in discovering the older hotels that are still around, and how people judge them. So also with this one … you can check TripAdvisor. Grade: 1
-
Sorrento, Hotel Tramontano (Italy)
Unused B&W real-photo card with serrated edges. How imposing is that structure, anyway? Grade: 1
-
Valderice, “Baglio” Santacroce (Italy)
As usual, we Googled the hotel, which is not only still there but sounds like the kind of place we might stay if we had the chance. Unused older card. Grade: 1
-
Mesa, Maricopa Inn (Arizona, USA)
As we always do with hotel postcards, we went to search the property’s current status. Maricopa Inn may still be there, even under another name, or not, but Google was less than helpful this time. Plenty of postcards around, but our price is lower than most. Unused vintage linen Colourpicture card K1558, aged appropriately. Grade: 1
-
Valescure, Le Golf-Hotel (France)
This is an old, unused postcard, creased slightly across the upper right corner. An imposing picture, so we went to search out more information. That wasn’t any help, and we don’t know which of the different golf hotels in Valescure might be the successor to this. But in any event, the postcard survives. Grade: 2
-
Raffles Hotel (Singapore)
Arguably Singapore’s most famous heritage hotel property, depicted on this card mailed in 1985 with stamp and postmark. Grade: 1
-
Desaru Holiday Resort (Malaysia)
Despite our many years in Malaysia, we never got to Desaru. We should have made the effort. This card was mailed in 1982, with stamp and some overlapping postmarks. That spot you see in the clouds above the centre panel is a thumbtack hole. Grade: 4
-
Hotel Malaysia (Singapore)
Mailed in 1982, with stamp and postmark, this would be a good “hotel postcard” were it not for the thumbtack hole at the top. Grade: 4
-
Raffles Hotel (Singapore)
Still there, still famous, still great, still expensive, and now franchising itself around the world. Unused mid-century card. Grade: 1
-
Bela Vista Hotel (Macau)
Hotel Bela Vista is a registered heritage building located upon Ave. do Comendador Ho Yin above Sai Van Lake, a late 19th-century multiple-story building of Neo-classical and traditional Portuguese architecture. The history of the building is varied, ranging from being a retreat for British soldiers, a Portuguese refugee camp, and multiple stints of being of being a hotel with highly regarded views (we stayed there once!). Hotel Bela Vista closed its doors in 1999 after which it was renovated and converted to the official residence of the Portuguese Consulate in Macau. Every person of a certain age living in the Hong Kong/Macau area has his or her own memories of this property. The postcard is real-photo, unused, very old, and Grade: 1
-
Hotel Grand Central (Singapore)
First opened in 1968 and then closed for re-development in 2012, Hotel Grand Central reopened on 21st October 2015, so what you see on this card was the original version. Mailed in 1981, the card has its stamp and postmark. As for the hotel, it is in fact still there but should you be considering checking in, you might want to see the reviews first. Grade: 1
-
Hampshire, Elvetham Hall (England)
Elvetham Hall is now a hotel, a High Victorian Gothic Revival English country house and a Grade II* listed building. The house was built in 1859–62 for Frederick Gough, 4th Baron Calthorpe, with tall brick chimneys and an entrance front dominated by a tall tower. The interior is notable for its fireplaces. The house has a porte-cochère added in 1901 and a dining room added in 1911, while this postcard was also mailed a long time ago — with stamp, almost full postmark, airmail sticker, and some tape remnant on the reverse. Grade: 3.
-
Greetings from the Norfolk Broads – Swan Hotel (England)
The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of rivers and lakes in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms “Norfolk Broads” and “Suffolk Broads” are correctly used to identify specific areas within the two counties respectively, the whole area is frequently referred to as the Norfolk Broads. The lakes, known as broads, were formed by the flooding of peat workings. The Broads, and some surrounding land, were constituted as a special area with a level of protection similar to a national park by the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act 1988. The area is 303 square km, most of which is in Norfolk. Now having said all that, the card was mailed in 1961 and pre-dates National Park status, but its two different stamps and clear postmark are there, and this is an ideal souvenir of the location. Swan Hotel (now Swan Inn) is, somehow, still there and dates from the early 19th century. Presumably it has WiFi now though. Grade: 1
-
London, Grosvenor House
Mailed in 1978, with stamp, partial postmark, and a prominent thumbtack hole. Grade: 4
-
Grindelwald, Hotel Belvedere und Wetterhorn (Switzerland)
The Belvedere is still there, now called Belvedere Swiss Quality Hotel, with terrific reviews. As for the real-photo postcard, it was mailed in 1952 with stamp and postmark and lots of Swiss atmosphere. Grade: 1
-
Killarney, Lake Hotel (Rep. of Ireland)
On the shore of Loch Lein, the hotel seems still to be there and gets good online reviews. When you go, bring this card with you and maybe you can get a discount. Real-photo, mailed in 1951 with stamp and postmark. Nice. Grade: 1
-
Worthing, Marine Parade, Steyne Hotel (England)
Nice real-photo overview in a calmer time … the card was written and stamped (two different) for mailing but doesn’t look as if it was. Only because of that, Grade: 4
-
Reno, Circus Circus Casino Hotel (Nevada, USA)
Mailed in 1986, with 33-cent stamp and heavy postmark over that and the airmail sticker. There’s also an address label. Grade: 3
-
San Francisco, Hyatt Regency Hotel (California)
The 4-1/2″ x 8-1/4″ card was mailed in 1979 with a 31-cent stamp and postmark; its caption calls the property “The West’s newest, most exciting hotel” so you can pin down the date fairly accurately. Grade: 1
-
Hotel Nikko Narita (Japan)
Back in the day, due to Narita Airport’s location and transport options, it could be cheaper to stay at the Nikko Narita than to go into Tokyo. And so, many transit passengers did. This card was mailed — from USA, not Japan — in 1989, with (US) stamp and postmark. Grade: 4
-
Raffles – Bring Home the Legacy (Singapore)
It’s that the card wants you to buy this scale model miniature of the hotel. Your call! Mailed in 1988, with stamp and postmark. Actually two postmarks, one from Singapore and another from Hong Kong. Grade: 1
-
Ko Samui, Imperial Samui Hotel (Thailand)
It’s funny about Google, whose various entries about this property describe it as everything from a “hostel” to a “5-star resort” … but it’s still there, even if the “Ko” in “Ko Samui” is now spelled “Koh” … usually. The card was mailed in 1992, with stamp and postmark and red air mail chop. Grade: 1
-
John o’ Groats – Hotel from the Pier (Scotland)
John o’ Groats is a village in the far north of Scotland, on Great Britain’s northeastern tip, and is popular with tourists as one end of the longest distance between two inhabited points on the British mainland (with Land’s End 876 mi (1,410 km) southwest) but it is not the northernmost point of mainland Great Britain, which is nearby Dunnet Head. That was condensed from Wikipedia, which goes on to add: John o’ Groats attracts large numbers of tourists … in 2005, tourist guide Lonely Planet described the village as a “seedy tourist trap” and in 2010 John o’ Groats received a Carbuncle Award from Urban Realm magazine for being “Scotland’s most dismal town.” Yikes! Major redevelopment work in 2013 aimed to revitalise the area. The John o’ Groats House Hotel was built at the site of Jan de Groot’s house, and was established in 1875. It was closed for several years, and fell into disrepair until undergoing a radical transformation, and reopened for business in August 2013. Perhaps more than you wanted to know, but this particular card was mailed in 1989 with two different stamps and clear postmark from the village. Grade: 1
-
Stockholm, Grand Hotell & Kungl (Sweden)
This old (mailed in 1955), real-photo card (with stamp and postmark) does spell Hotel with two lls, and we’re assuming that was correct at the time. The hotel dates from 1874 and reviews are mostly elevated, as are the room rates. Grade: 1
-
Crow’s Nest Resort (Fiji)
The card was mailed in 1988, with two stamps and faint postmark, so all’s well with that. Recent online reviews are less than encouraging, however, so maybe better just stick with the card. Grade: 1