The Central Hotel
Taking over from the Wine and Beer Stores at 204 Queen's Road, the Central Hotel offered in addition to accommodation, a Museum of Aboriginal Curiosities. These were most likely acquired from visiting Australian cricketers visiting the nearby Central Cricket Ground. During its early years, the hotel provided a room for meetings of the Hastings Bonfire Boys, the landlord, being chairman of the association.[1]
Post WW1, the hotel featured a large circular counter serving the main bars in the premises and a number of private cubicles. These cubicles were subsequently removed in the 1930s when the premises underwent renovations. During WW2, the bar served large numbers of American servicemen who were billeted in the town. By December of 1945, the premises underwent a re-branding to the name of The G. I. commemorating the large number of American soldiers who had passed through its doors. The name 'G.I.' resulted in the pub appearing in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest pub name in the United Kingdom and also into the Whitbread’s miniature inn signs series which was published in the 1950s.[1]
