Sited on the banks of the Warrego River along a natural stock route from New South Wales to Western Queensland, the town was to develop as the major service centre for the surrounding pastoral industry.

Bullock teams passed through the town, Cobb & Co established stables (as well as a factory for the construction of mail coaches and buggies and an associated sawmill) and in 1888 Charleville's position as a strategic transport node for the south west was confirmed when it became the terminus for the Western railway line (extended south to Cunnamulla in 1898 and west to Quilpie in 1917).

In Charleville the main streets gave an air of solid prosperity to this centre of one of the richest areas of western Queensland:[1]... it has fine hotels, stores, offices of the leading pastoral firms, and a full complement of general business concerns.

However a severe drought in 1926 described by the Charleville Chamber of Commerce as the worst season known by black or white man with losses of sheep to the enormous extent of eleven millions was to bring the state's pastoral and agricultural sectors to collapse and many rural towns entered a slow decline into the worldwide depression of the 1930s.

[1] On the cusp of the boom/bust, Harry Corones was to commence building his grand vision of hospitality for the west to rival the capital's best hotels.

Born on the Greek island of Kythera, Harry "Poppa" Corones arrived in Australia in the early 1900s coming to Charleville by 1909 when he was recorded in the Post Office Directories as a "fruiterer".

Rising phoenix-like on the site of the old Norman Hotel, the ambitious scheme was built in four stages from the south to the north to enable continuation of trade; the construction dates displayed at either end of the building testifying to the five year enterprise.

According to the Australian Pastoralist, Grazing Farmers' and Selectors Gazette the hotel was the topic of conversation from Roma to Eulo, and out to the far west and north:[1]...

According to the Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland it was:[1]"a magnificent white building ... an outstanding feature in a progressive town ... the best equipped and most up-to-date hotel outside the metropolis ... generally acknowledged as the calling-place of all distinguished tourists and travellers..."The hotel itself produced a 12-page brochure about this time which included black-and-white photographs of the interior: on the ground floor the lounge had gleaming copper-topped tables, deep leather lounges and chairs and led to a writing room and telephone booth; the dining room, enticing in its cleanliness, was capable of seating 150; the private bar which gave exclusive service amidst convivial surroundings was screened from the public bar by an ingenious arrangement a French polished oak partition with mirrors; the public bar was very modern and luxurious and a cool cement court-yard formed an entrance to the ball-room.

Corones Hall located on Galatea Street had a floor unexcelled outside Brisbane and was largely in demand for exclusive balls, parties, and banquets.

Capable of seating 320 at dinner, the hall was built for coolness with a number of high-set windows and electric ceiling fans.

The lights with Venetian shades of various hues were adjustable either to dimness or the reverse, and an orchestra platform added to its popularity and beauty.

Harry Corones' advertisements and stationery proclaimed vice-regal patronage; and in addition to wealthy local graziers, celebrities such as Amy Johnson, Gracie Fields, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were guests at the hotel.

[4] In September 2023, the hotel sold[5] to Australian Motel Group Pty Ltd, owned by sole shareholder Neil Robert Langton and Company Director, Marcus Thomas Shaw.

There are single storey contemporary motel units in the south east corner of the site which are not considered of cultural heritage significance.

A double story building, including staff quarters on the upper level and garages below, is located behind the motel units.

A small cornice runs along the top of the parapet and the name HOTEL CORONES is cast in relief with a surrounding border on the south and north ends and centrally along Wills Street.

A tiled dado runs along the walls to the bar and to the three shops on the southern end of the building where aluminium windows have been installed.

[1] Adjoining the hotel to the east is a single storey ballroom with a central door and two symmetrically positioned windows with semi circular heads either side.

The facade is rendered to the height of the adjoining ballroom roof and has piers supporting a dentilled cornice which rises over the entrance in a semicircular pediment.

Riding on the statewide economic boom of the 1920s, Harry "Poppa" Corones built his hotel which was to become a byword for hospitality in the west.

Spanning nearly a block of Charleville's main street, the Hotel Corones was also to become in the succeeding decades, a symbol of both the prosperity and the changing fortunes of the town and the pastoral industry of south west Queensland, which it served.

Riding on the statewide economic boom of the 1920s, Harry "Poppa" Corones built his hotel which was to become a byword for hospitality in the west.

Spanning nearly a block of Charleville's main street, the Hotel Corones was also to become in the succeeding decades, a symbol of both the prosperity and the changing fortunes of the town and the pastoral industry of south west Queensland, which it served.