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well-known photograph of Kalk Bay appeared which depicted the name of this establishment as

such. (Fig. 5.1.)

It seems most likely that Charles King himself may have commissioned this photograph for
within a few months the ‘Kings Hotel and General Store’ was demolished and Charles King built

a substantial double storey building, to be known as Kings Hotel, on the site of the old building.
(Fig. 5.2.)

An advertisement in the Wynberg Times of Saturday 13 January 1883, less than a year after
King had bought the property, described the hotel as:

This noted seaside establishment, most favorably situated for health and magnificent scenery has
received extensive additions and improvements and is second to none in the Colony for superior
accommodation for visitors. Its cuisine is excellent and its charges moderate. Private suites of
rooms for families. - Charles King.

However, it appears that King had over- extended himself by this substantial construction for
within two years, by the end of 1885, he was declared insolvent. He did, however, remain on as

manager of the Kings Hotel until 1895 after which he bought Farmer Peck’s Hotel in

Muizenberg.

He seemed to have been quite a character and in the summer of 1888 ran an advertisement in the
Wynberg Times stating: “Bachelors desirous of mating and spending a sporting week-end could

do no better than enjoy the comforts of the Kings Hotel, Kalk Bay.”

King had four sons (all railwaymen) and four daughters - Annie, Alice, Rosie and Agnes, of

whom three (Agnes died aged 6 in 1887) worked as waitresses at Farmer Peck’s Hotel in
Muizenberg. King would insist that they kiss him goodnight after serving the meal. This caused

much astonishment among the patrons, and it was only on their leaving the hotel that King would
explain that the three waitresses who had kissed him goodnight were his daughters.

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