The Pink Poodle was a motel in Surfers Paradise,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. It was located on the corner of Fern Street and the

Gold Coast Highway Gold Coast Highway links the coastal suburbs of the Gold Coast in south eastern Queensland such as Miami, Mermaid Beach, Tugun, Bilinga to the Tweed Heads suburb of Tweed Heads West in New South Wales. At in length, the highway runs jus ...

. Although no longer extant, its signage remains and is listed on the

Gold Coast Local Heritage Register The Gold Coast Local Heritage Register is a heritage register containing a list of culturally-significant places within the City of Gold Coast, Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption ...

History

The Pink Poodle was built in 1967 and features a neon sign of a pink

poodle The Poodle, called the Pudel in German and the Caniche in French, is a breed of water dog. The breed is divided into four varieties based on size, the Standard Poodle, Medium Poodle, Miniature Poodle and Toy Poodle, although the Medium Poodle var ...

. Many felt it was synonymous with the "glitzy" allure of the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and it was frequently used as an image to depict the Gold Coast. The motel was demolished in 2004 but the sign was preserved and relocated a short distance to 18 Fern Street. A bar and restaurant in the new development that replaced it bears the name "The Pink Poodle". In 2005, the

National Trust of Queensland National Trust of Queensland is a membership-based community organisation to "promote the natural, Indigenous and cultural heritage" of Queensland. It was founded in 1963. It is a member of the National Trust of Australia, which federates the e ...

nominated the sign to be one of Queensland's Heritage Icons. In 2015, the signage appeared on a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

issued by Australia Post as part of its ''Signs of the Times'' series.

In popular culture

In 1995, author

Matthew Condon Matthew Condon (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist. Biography Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen, Germany, he is the author of ten novels and short story collections, includi ...

published a novel, ''A Night at the Pink Poodle'', about the rise and fall of a Gold Coast highrise apartment salesman.

References

External links

Google Street View of the sign
{{Coord, -28.013276, 153.430515, type:landmark_region:AU-QLD, display = title Hotels in Queensland Surfers Paradise, Queensland Gold Coast Local Heritage Register Motels Individual signs in Australia 1967 establishments in Australia Pink Poodle Pink Poodle Hotel buildings completed in 1967 Hotels disestablished in 2004 Demolished hotels in Australia Defunct hotels in Australia