Overview This interview is part of the Grand Hotel Project. Lavinia worked at the Grand Hotel from 1959 to 1962. She became the second cook under Mrs Dickson.

Overview In this interview Graham recalls the beginning of his apprenticeship as a chef at the Grand Hotel, under Chef Nick Kooij, at the age of 16. He talks of other staff and the hierarchy of the kitchen. His training took 6 years which included time spent at the Otago Polytech in the latter years of his training. Graham recalls the Trainee Chefs dinners which were held annually and were initiated by the Managers of the Grand Hotel Mr and Mrs Mertz. He gives some history of the Grand Hotel e.g. it was...

Overview This interview is part of the Grand Hotel Project.

Overview Recorded as part of the Grand Hotel Oral History Project. In this interview Adrian talks about his time as a duty manager at the Grand Hotel. He was only 19 years old at the time, under the legal drinking age. He talks about regulars who came into the bar, the cinemas that were operating at the time and the importance of the hotel to the city.

Overview This interview is part of the Grand Hotel Project. In it Liz recalls her time working as a waitress at the Grand Hotel and the visit there by the Queen in 1954. She worked here for five years after school and in holidays prior to attending Training College and a spending a year learning speech therapy in Christchurch. She worked as a speech therapist before teaching. Liz also give an insight into her family life during this time.

Overview This interview is part of the Grand Hotel Project. In this interview Joy recalls working in the Snack Bar at the Grand Hotel. She decribes the food, the bar area and the kinds of people who came there. She also recalls some of the other bars in the hotel.

Overview This interview is part of the Grand Hotel Project. In this interview Raewyn talks in detail about her Grandfather, Willaim Holding, who came to New Zealand from England in 1923. William was a joiner and a sign writer as well as a talented painter and amateur photographer. He served in WWI and WW2. He did strongman acts and was a wrester. In 1954 he did a painting for the Queen's visit to Invercargill and Raewyn recounts the story of how he held up the painting from the veranda of a shop across...

Overview This interview was recorded as part of the Grand Hotel Project. In this interview James recalls going to the Grand for meals as a boy through to drinking there as an adult. He recalls the various bars, the change in closing times and recounts events that happened at the hotal, including the protests for the Springbok tour of 1981.