Key board from the Belvedere Hotel
Date made: late 20th century
Maker: unknown
Description: This is the key panel from the Belvedere Hotel in Douglas. It was removed from the wall of the office behind the hotel bar when the hotel closed.
It is made of dark stained plywood, with numbers 1 to 53 painted on in five rows. MK, LK, B1 and B2 (bathroom first floor and bathroom second floor) are painted on the end. 'Shower' has been added on a printed tape. Cup hooks have been fixed under each number to hold the key and fob for that room.
This simple object neatly sums up the layout of the hotel as it would have operated in the final decade of the Manx tourist industry. The shower has been added in an attempt to bring the hotel facilities up to a more modern standard, but there was only one, along with two communal bathrooms for a hotel of fifty three rooms. The perceived reluctance (or perhaps the financial inability) of the Douglas hoteliers to modernise their properties was often cited as a reason for the decline in the popularity of the Isle of Man as a resort, though external factors were undoubtedly as much to blame.
Measurements: overall: 92 x 69 cm
Materials: Wood
Object name: hotel board
Collection: Social History Collection
ID Number: 1988-0465