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A pebbledash rendered 4-star hotel situated on an inner-CBD one-way street must have been a big deal back under Sir Joh, it has been confirmed.
The Betoota Plaza, as it has been known since it’s opening night in 1979, is now most popular with young lads visiting for from the bush for a football match, or the grieving families of one of the 300 terminally ill patients at the palliative care hospital next door.
However, the now yellowing lobby of the hotel, which also doubles as a reception for Hertz Car Hire, tells the story of a once-coveted destination for overseas tourists and investors.
Roughly around the same time as Die Hard was released, it seems The Betoota Plaza was at the height of its popularity.
While it isn’t as tall as the Nakatomi building, Betoota Plaza hosted arguably just as many Japanese businessmen, and other important 1980s identities on all 24 floors of luxury.
With a piano room nightclub on the top floor and an array of white-collar criminals meeting with Queensland state ministers in the pool area, it’s clear that this building is responsible for half of the Gold Coast’s development.
Now still operational, the hotel has even descended into hosting a few permanent residents, namely international students and mid-level sex workers.
However, with another Queensland Olympic bid around the corner, it seems the Betoota Plaza may once see a return to the under-the-table deals it was once famous for.
MORE TO COME.
