Book profiles historic hotels including Vernon’s Kal Hotel

A new book takes readers on a ride through history and into the legendary hotels and pubs in the Okanagan and other parts of the Southern Interior.

Room at the Inn: Historic Hotels of British Columbia’s Southern Interior was written by historian Glen A. Mofford before he passed away last year. It will be published May 16, 2023 by Heritage House.

The chapters focus on B.C.’s early hospitality industry, covering the time period of the 1890s to 1950s.

Mofford offers stories about several dozen hotels in the region, including the Kalamalka Hotel in Vernon which is featured on the book’s cover. That hotel is still standing, although a smaller version, at 30th Avenue and 30th Street, now known as The Kal.

The King Edward Hotel on Maud Street in Enderby (1905-1947), which was destroyed by a fire in 1947, and the Armstrong Hotel (1892- 2018) on Okanagan Avenue in Armstrong, are also profiled.

According to the book, the Kalamalka Hotel was built in 1892, the same year that Vernon was incorporated, and has a long and distinguished history.

The orignal owner was George Mackey who was the president of the Okanagan Land and Development Company. It cost $20,000 to build.

“It was an attractive building and one of the major social centres in Vernon for years,” the book stated about the Kalamalka Hotel. “The hotel featured a spacious billiards room. a freestone fireplace in the foyer, and the ceilings were finished in a style of an English baronial ballroom. Rates were $7 per week for board, $10 per week for room and board, and $1.50 per night for transients.” (Room at the Inn)

Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Meakin were the first managers.

The hotel was known to host fashionable balls and even tennis tournaments.

The Royal Hotel, later renamed the National Hotel, opened in 1906, to compete with the Kalamalka, but the book says “there were more than enough patrons to keep both businesses busy.”

Today, The Kal Hotel still stands, but looks much different than in its heyday. Its two top floors were removed in a major renovation in 1980.

Other Okanagan hotels featured include the Eldorado Arms, Lake View Hotel, The Palace Hotel, Summerland Hotel, BC Hotel, Incola Hotel, Oliver Hotel, Reopel Hotel and Rialto Hotel.

Mofford tells salacious stories of murder, robbery, and suicide from over the years at the hotels, which were far more than just a room for the night. They were also sites for socializing and live entertainment, and sometimes were the only legal drinking establishment in town. Some hotels even doubled as makeshift hospitals or muster-sites during wildfires and floods.

Author Glen A. Mofford was the author of two previous books on B.C.’s historical hotels and their drinking establishments. He passed away in 2022.

The 336-page book sells for $29.95 Canadian.

Room at the Inn is expected to be available at most bookstores after its published on May 16.
The publisher says Surplus Herby’s in Vernon and Jan’s Boutique in Enderby are among those that have it on order.

Interesting facts about the hotels featured:

• Of the 40 hotels, 22 were destroyed by fire, two of which were suspicious circumstances.

• Six were closed, then demolished.

• One hotel — Reco Hotel in Sandon— was destroyed in a flood, after being closed and left vacant.

• Only 10 are still standing, and nine of those are still in operation as a hotel or other public business. One, the Armstrong Hotel and Saloon, has been vacant since 2018.

• The most recently lost building was the Keremeos Hotel, destroyed by fire in 2014.

• Three of the towns featured are considered ghost towns or are nearly completely abandoned: Bridesville, Walhachin, and Sandon.

• Three hotels were named King Edward Hotel; two of which were built in 1905 during his rein, and the third was completed in 1910 and likely named to commemorate his death.

• The Oliver Hotel was originally built in 1912 in New Westminster. It was dismantled and shipped in pieces to Oliver.