eBusiness Weekly
Meikles Hotel, owned by Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed entity Meikles Limited, was founded by Thomas Meikles in 1913 and was officially opened on November 15, 1915.
In 1916, an annex was added to the hotel and the total number of rooms reached 160 while in 1926 a steam laundry was added and was the first such facility in the city.
In 1933, The Thomas Meikle Trust and Investment Company was created.
Thomas Meikle died on 8 February in 1939 and the trust was undertaken by his widow, Winifred (nee Dalzell) who became chairman, and their four daughters and husbands who became board members.
In 1947, in response to city plans to designate all property in the hotel area as a non-business area the Board completed plans for the rebuilding of the hotel, but failed to win a permit from the city planning authority.
In 1950, Reginald Moxon (husband of Thomas Meikle’s eldest daughter Marjorie) became Vice Chairman of the Thomas Meikle Trust bringing an assurance of continued firm direction at a time when most of the founder’s early lieutenants were starting to retire.
In 1956, the construction of a new East Wing, over the old hotel’s beautiful garden, as an addition to the existing hotel was begun and completed two years later in 1958 just in time to accommodate a French rugby team on a visit to the country.
The new wing had seven stories with 120 bedrooms.
The Meikles Hotel Football Club was formed in 1967 and was indicative of the continuing high morale of the staff amidst political uncertainty in the country. It was announced in 1969 that the Thomas Meikle Trust was to go ahead with plans to construct a new hotel in line with the international standards accorded to the world’s leading hotels.
The original hotel and adjoining buildings were demolished between March and September 1974 to make way for a modern and bigger hotel, construction of the new hotel began in September the same year.
In 1976, the new look Meikles Hotel was opened in November and in 1980 the 12-storey Meikles Tower Block was opened. Five additional floors were added to the North Wing in 1991, containing luxury suites, including the current Club Rooms along with 10 additional banqueting rooms.
In 1995 — The Leading Hotels of the World invited Meikles to join its prestigious group, the first hotel in Zimbabwe to be given such notable international acclaim.
The South Wing, which comprises 187 rooms, was refurbished in 1997 and in 1998 Meikles Hotel was voted “Best Hotel in Africa” by the International Executive Travel Awards and became the first in Africa to achieve ISO 9002 status.
Meikles embarked on ambitious planning for a major refurbishment to take it into the modern era without sacrificing its elegant charm or rich pedigree between 1998 and 2011.
Work commenced on a major upgrade to restore Meikles to its world-class five-star stature in preparation for the hotel’s Centenary celebrations throughout 2015.
The major US$9 million revitalization of the entire North Wing and several public areas propelled Meikles to modern new glory while retaining its traditional style, luxury and glamour in September 2013.
Association of Zimbabwe Travel Agents (AZTA) voted Meikles as “Best City Hotel” for 20th time. The first AZTA award for Meikles was in 1992 and there has never been another winner in this category (there were no awards in 2004 and 2005).
