In the classic musical “Gigi,” Maurice Chevalier sings, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls“. In a similarly French theme, I say, “Thank heaven for small mercies“. The infamous ‘Pink Poodle’ Surfers Paradise neon-sign landmark from the former Pink Poodle Motel lives on despite the fall of the wrecker’s ball some years ago. The Gold Coast City Council has listed the sign on a heritage register.

The strutting pink poodle became a neon-lit lure for tourists, especially honeymooners, when the motel opened in 1967 and was synonymous with the Gold Coast’s racy and colourful image. Unfortunately, the motel was demolished in 2004 and replaced by a 15-storey Mantra Wings resort. In fact, the motel  inspired Courier-Mail journalist Matthew Condon’s 1995 novel, A Night at the Pink Poodle.

However, in a nod to the site’s past, the developers kept the famous Pink Poodle sign and even named the resort’s bar and restaurant the Pink Poodle. Although our stay at the ‘real’ Pink Poodle Motel was fantastic, we learned one important ‘vegetarian’ life lesson – open the electric kettle and have a good smell of it, before filling it up with water to boil. In our ignorance, we ended up with chicken flavoured tea, because the previous hotel guests had used the kettle to boil chicken noodles in it and the cleaning staff had not recognised this possibility when they cleaned the rooms! Woof-woof

Although ‘quirky’ in nature, I render this to ‘The Bad’ wall of Questionable Art.

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