Horror hotel is a den of iniquity
The building has become home to the darker elements of society.
THE old New South Barrow Road Hotel in Umkomaas dates back to early last century and has sadly now become a symbol of the rot that is eating away at society.
The Mid South Coast Mail team gagged when they visited the site last week after receiving complaints from local residents. Scores of empty liquor bottles, condoms and rubbish littered the ground floor rooms, but it was the second floor rooms that really shocked the team.
They were overwhelmed by the smell of the urine and faeces that literally carpeted the floors. This was compounded by the hundreds of empty straws used to package the drug, whoonga, plus other drug paraphernalia.
The next room offered further insight into the reality of what the derelict hotel now houses. Two people were having sex in plain view of anyone from the street who happened to look up through the window and the amorous pair carried on, oblivious of the reporters. Prostitutes use the hotel by day and up to 20 people sleep there at night.
The owner of the Crow’s Nest, opposite the horror hotel, said they often had to recover stolen property from the building. A resident said the activities taking place at the old hotel were no secret and that police only seemed to take action when there was a complaint. “It is an age old saying: prevention is better than cure,” the resident said. “Police need to be proactive to solve the problem.”
The owner of the property, who asked not to be named, contacted the Mail and explained that he bought the property with the intention of renovating the partially burnt building. However paying rates on the property along with the renovation costs had just become too much and he had now put the property on the market. He added that he had on more than one occasion alerted the police to the activities taking place there at night.
