NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

The 'festering flophouse' Gatwick Hotel for sale for millions

news.com.au
23 Oct, 2016 06:52 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

You have to wonder who would dare take on the Gatwick Hotel. Photo / Facebook user William Buckingham

You have to wonder who would dare take on the Gatwick Hotel. Photo / Facebook user William Buckingham

It's the notorious hotel of horrors where guests have been murdered, drugs have been injected and alcohol swigged.

The Gatwick Hotel is a place you'd stay far away from - you'd cross the street just so you didn't have to walk past the grisly guesthouse in St Kilda in Melbourne's southeast.

TripAdvisor reviews warn people to never stay there and describe it as a halfway house that has police on speed dial.

"Feel for some of the people that stay here bcos (sic) it's a hotbed of violence and drugs," a review said.

Another guest said three police detectives calmed down a group of hotel guests on the footpath while another group of shirtless visitors yelled abuse at passers-by while also emptying buckets of water out the windows.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You would be better off sleeping on a tram," the review said.

Another warns backpackers could be lured in to the hotel of horrors for the cheap rate of $220 a week, but don't be fooled.

"It is a hostel for people down on their luck. Some of the people who permanently stay at the Gatwick spend their whole days outside the building pestering people, who dare walk past, for change. Avoid at all costs," the unhappy guest said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It was no secret the Gatwick Hotel was a squalid boarding house and sisters Yvette Kelly and Rose Banks put it on the market last December because they couldn't afford maintenance.

It's been described as a "festering flophouse" and "flea pit" but the reputation of the Gatwick could change with new owners.

Lemon Baxter real estate agent Jonathon Walls told the Port Phillip Leader the notorious 66-room hotel would soon sell, likely within the next week.

He said there were visions of giving the Gatwick a second life, turning it into a boutique hotel.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Life after giving up the drink

05 Nov 02:45 AM

"One that you'd take your partner to for a weekend away or something like that," Mr Walls said.

When first put up for sale, the Gatwick was asking $12 million but Mr Walls told the Port Phillip Leader the price had since dropped and there were several interested people.

You have to wonder who would dare take on the Gatwick Hotel.

A documentary, The Saints from St Kilda, shows the cockroaches, junkies and jailbirds and pregnancy tests in fridges and blood-strained sinks.

Residents say you can get a cocktail of drugs from within the hotel, anything you want can be found inside the Gatwick.

But both Ms Banks and Ms Kelly loved it despite its flaws, as it had been in their family for years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Many of those who lived at the Gatwick said they'd be out on the streets if it wasn't for the hotel, where they felt warmed and welcomed.

The owners told the documentary they did have days that were like living nightmares and people would sometimes skip out on paying rent, spending their pensions and dole payments on gambling and drugs instead.

While many of the disadvantaged hope Gatwick will continue to run as a boarding house, the real estate ad instead marketed it as a place to open a boutique hotel.

But it has a reputation that would be a challenge to change as the halfway house has been the catalyst for violence in the St Kilda area for decades.

A man was stabbed to death by an alcoholic who drank 14 litres of cask wine in 2011, the ABC reports.

Just last month a man fell from his third-storey window and was treated in hospital for head injuries.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Yahoo 7 reported between April 2012 and 2013, there were 74 crimes committed at the Gatwick, including kidnapping, assault and aggravated burglary.

"There's no hiding the fact that there's been murders, violent assaults, there have been drug overdoses there," Detective Sergeant Ed Logonder told Yahoo 7.

He described it as a dangerous place and had one of the worst reputations.

Mr Walls told the Port Phillip Leader offers for the hotel have been put on the table and real estate agents were just waiting for the owners to accept one.

"It's been very frustrating but that's sometimes what it's like when you have vendors that have had a long association with the property," Mr Walls said.

"They're emotional and they don't necessarily want to let it go unless they get what they feel the property is worth."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Business|companies

New World customers warned after ‘password spraying’ attack

12 Jul 02:39 AM
Premium
Property

Auckland retiree faces eviction as ground rent jumps 344%

12 Jul 12:01 AM
Business|companies

Air India crash: Pilot asked colleague why he cut off fuel control switches seconds after takeoff

11 Jul 10:44 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

New World customers warned after ‘password spraying’ attack

New World customers warned after ‘password spraying’ attack

12 Jul 02:39 AM

New World's parent company Foodstuffs says none of its systems were breached.

Premium
Auckland retiree faces eviction as ground rent jumps 344%

Auckland retiree faces eviction as ground rent jumps 344%

12 Jul 12:01 AM
Air India crash: Pilot asked colleague why he cut off fuel control switches seconds after takeoff

Air India crash: Pilot asked colleague why he cut off fuel control switches seconds after takeoff

11 Jul 10:44 PM
Premium
Fran O'Sullivan: New Zealand must move on from Ardern criticism to get real benefit from Covid inquiry

Fran O'Sullivan: New Zealand must move on from Ardern criticism to get real benefit from Covid inquiry

11 Jul 09:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP