Holiday Inn to a still-striking Eden at 52

Staff Reporter|Published 7 months ago

The Holiday Inn at 23 Sol Harris Crescent, North Beach, in its hotel heydays in the 1970s and ’80s, with lines of rickshaw men who made a living transporting visitors along the beachfront.

Durban — The subject of today’s Then and Now is the former Holiday Inn in Sol Harris Crescent which was “pensioned off” as a hotel to provide top-notch retirement accommodation.

Eden Crescent, at 23 Sol Harris Crescent, North Beach, was originally built in 1972 as a Holiday Inn, and enjoyed many years as a bustling and popular hotel. Many visitors to Eden Crescent reminisce about happy hours spent in the restaurants, social rooms or pub when it was still the Holiday Inn.

A slightly later picture of the Holiday Inn in Sol Harris Crescent.

In 1993, Eden Crescent was established as a retirement complex and celebrated its 30th birthday last year.

It has maintained the same structures and fittings reminiscent of the old-world charm of its public rooms and spaces as the Holiday Inn.

And of course, its striking and memorable sculptural façade.

Facilities include a well-stocked library, swimming pool, sun deck, card room, garden area, hobbies and arts and crafts room, social club, tuck shop, laundry and social lounges, and frail care facilities.

Today, the striking design remains on the structure of what is now Eden Crescent retirement accommodation. | SHELLEY KJONSTAD Independent Newspapers

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