Bahamas Philately: The British Colonial Hotel

The British Colonial Hotel sits on the site of old Fort of Nassau which was demolished in 1873. In 1900, the land was purchased by Henry M. Flagler. He built an enormous wooden hotel on the site, the Colonial Hotel, which opened in 1901.

However, the hotel was gutted by fire in 1922. The Bahamian government gave a loan to the Munson Line, which purchased the land and built a brand new seven-story hotel, The New Colonial, which opened in 1924.

In 1932, the hotel was purchased by Sir Harry Oakes. Oakes renamed the hotel the British Colonial Hotel. Approaching the 1950’s, the hotel was losing money and was put up for sale. In 1956 the hotel was purchased by the Gill Hotel chain and became the British Colonial Hotel – A Gill Hotel.