One of Canberra's most historic hotels has undergone a quiet identity change for the third time in its 80-year history.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The historic Olims Hotel was renamed the Mercure Canberra last weekend.
While hotel signage may take months to change, already online accommodation searches refer to the building as ''the former Olims'', as do staff answering the phones.
The Schwartz Family Company, which owns the hotel, said the rebranding was designed to make the hotel more appealing to a global network.
''Canberra is going through an exceptional growth phase and is opening itself to the rest of the world as a real tourist destination ...,'' director Jerry Schwartz said.
''By renaming the hotel, it should bring with it international marketing, much in tune with Canberra Airport.''
He added that the company had spent more than $8 million refurbishing the historic building over the past three years.
This included the installation of a new reception and dining entry as well as the upgrade of 30 rooms.
Renovations to the remaining 100 rooms are set to be completed by the end of the year.
The move marks the third name change for the historic institution in its 80-year history.
Built in 1927, the establishment was originally known as the Ainslie Hotel before becoming the Ainslie Ladies Hostel in the 1940s and the Ainslie Rex Hotel in the 1950s. The Schwartz Family Company took over in 1989 and renamed it Olims, which it has been known ever since.
Despite the renovations, the building has maintained its original facade and is heritage listed by the National Trust of Australia, Royal Institute of Architects and Australian Heritage Commission.
Local author and historian Alan Foskett said the old Ainslie Hotel had originally been used to house visiting dignitaries before hosting social dances of up to 200 people.
''Back in the 50s, I remember finishing games of cricket at 5.45pm and rushing up to the hotel with the boys to try and get a drink before they closed at 6pm,'' he said.
''We'd line up six or seven schooners on the counter and then we'd have to drink them all by 6.20pm. It was a mess.''
Australian Council of the National Trust national heritage officer Peter Dowling said Olims was the place where men courted their girlfriends and where singles gathered to listen to folk music in the beer garden on Sundays.
He said the name change would create new memories for the next generation but could not dampen those held by old Ainslie patrons.
''I always refer to it as the Ainslie, a lot of people today refer to it as Olims. But after a few years, the next generation will refer to it as the Mercure,'' he said. ''[The name] is neither here nor there as far as heritage value is concerned.
''What is important is the physical fabric of the place, that is where the heritage value lies, and a lot of the social value too.''