Douglas Saga is a family website to remember our history.
Hotel Monterey Memories
I was born in 1935. My first trip to Catalina was when I was just a few weeks old on the S.S. Catalina, the old steamer ship. My Grandmother, Monnie, owned the Hotel Monterey, now the Snug Harbor Inn. I crawled and walked the halls of the hotel from 1935 through 1946.
When Monnie had the hotel, there were 10 rooms. No.1 was her bedroom and office. This was where people would register. She kept the register on a Monterey Furniture desk. The view from Monnie’s Bedroom was the Atwater Hotel, Arcade, Barber Shop, and the Port Hold Bar. Sometimes we would turn out the lights and watch the drunks coming and going.
Across the hall was her kitchen and bathroom. In the kitchen was a big skylight. To turn on the light, I had to get a stool to reach the pull chain. The kitchen also had some windows, but they opened to the brick wall. Her bathroom was off the kitchen. It had a very large tub on feet, a dresser, toilet and sink.
A big hall ran the length of the inside. Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 had windows that faced the street. No. 6 was the biggest and had two full-sized beds, a bathroom, and window seats that ran around the whole room. Three windows faced Front Street and three faced Sumner. No. 7 faced Front Street and the beach. It, along with No. 5 were the second largest.
Nos. 8, 9, & 10 had no windows, well they did but when you opened them all you saw was a brick wall which scared me as I thought there would be a body in there.
Between Nos. 8 and 9 there was a large public bathroom with a big tub that sat on feet, a wash basin, and a toilet. The people in Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, & 10 used this bathroom although some of those rooms had a sink in them.
All the rooms were furnished with Monterey Furniture and most of them had radios. This was before televisions became widespread in the United States. When Monnie moved to her house, the furnishings came from the hotel.
When my brother and I stayed with Monnie, he slept in No. 10, and I slept with Monnie. If I had to go to the bathroom during the night, I would go into Monnie’s closet and use a chamber pot with her clothes rubbing against me. No. 10 only had a bed and dresser.
When the family went, we stayed in No. 6, which was wonderful. We would sit on the window seats and watch all the goings on up and down the streets.
We spent a lot of World War II over there. During that time, you could only go over if you owned property or had a blood relative as it was a Maritime training base. During this time mom took pictures of the S.S. Catalina Steamer all painted gray as the steamer dock was just across the street between the present-day Bluewater restaurant and Antonio’s Pizzeria on the waterfront. Monnie did volunteer work at the USO which is where the present-day Antonio’s Pizzeria on the waterfront is. I remember playing on the beach with my friends and Mom came and got me and told my friends they had to go home as quickly as they could. We spent the rest of the Day in No. 6 on the window seats watching the sailors and others celebrate the end of World War II.
One Christmas, Monnie had had a heart attack and we spent Christmas in No.6. I don’t remember if it was this time or another, but Mom, my brother, and I stayed three months so Mom could run the hotel and care for Monnie. My brother and I had a tutor to keep up with our schoolwork, the tutor was one of the local teachers. I remember that I was learning my multiplication tables – 3’s and 4’s. I hated it because I wanted to be on the beach! That Christmas I got a red and white teddy bear and a cupie doll.
When I was 6 or 7 I had my tonsils out, the hospital was across the street from the hotel. Dad had said I could have all the ice cream I wanted. I asked for a chocolate malt but after just a couple of swallows I offered the rest to my brother. It was gone in nothing flat. He hovered over me the next few days asking if I wanted ice cream and if I said yes, he would yell “Dad, she wants ice cream.” Then off he would go and bring what I wanted back then just stood there until I offered him what was left. A couple of years later, it was his turn to get his tonsils out. I hovered over him asking if he wanted ice cream and when he said yes, I ran to get it for him and of course, he ate it all!
There was a wonderful Monterey Furniture lamp in No.6. The light was in the center. The round part would go around in circles and served as the steering wheel of my imaginary car. The lamp shade was my drum which I played with Monnie’s chop sticks to the tunes on the radio.
My brother and I had a job in the hotel and that was to empty “Oscar”. Oscar was the wastepaper baskets in each of the rooms. We took them down to the big trash bins in the alley next to the hotel.
My brother and I didn’t walk down the stairs. We slid down the long, wide banister. There were two flights of stairs, the biggest was from the entrance to the landing, then a short flight. There was a big wall on the landing and Mom had painted a big cloth painting to hang there. It is of a man and woman Spanish dancers. Someone drew and anchor on her arm!
On the ground floor there was an open area next to the steps. It went way back and even with the landing there was a big curtain hanging. It was behind this curtain that we kept our beach pails and shovels. It was so dark back there that I was sure that the Boogie Man lived there. I tried not to be the one to go get the pails.
Everything at the hotel seemed so big to me but remember, I knew the hotel from age 0 to 11. I was just a little person.
Such wonderful years and such a wonderful Grandmother. She was so much fun. How lucky we were!