Changing Times

THE ESPY: THE LEGEND RE-EMERGES

Posted on November 21st, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Melbourne trail-blazers Sand Hill Road have announced the reopening and reveal this Friday of St Kilda’s epic seaside icon – the amazing, multi-faceted The Espy. On 23 November the public will once again be able to enjoy and now explore

LAUNDY REOPENS WOOLWICH PIER AFTER BIG RENO

Posted on November 16th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Laundy Hotel Group has capped off a big week with a grand unveiling of repositioned destination pub, the Woolwich Pier Hotel. Having bought the pub from the Medich family in 2015, for the past few years the Laundy Hotel Group

McBEATH REOPENS GREAT NORTHERN NEWCASTLE LANDMARK

Posted on November 5th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
After three years closed and a big renovation, Ben McBeath has today reopened the historic six-storey Great Northern Hotel to a thriving new Newcastle. The striking Great Northern on the corners of Scott and Watt streets was built in 1938

UNIVERSAL MODULATION ON MIDNIGHT SHIFT BEGINS TONIGHT

Posted on September 28th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
After much speculation, Universal Hotels is tonight opening its tweaked Midnight Shift, launching a three-day party under a new moniker. The group operated by the Kospetas family acquired the legendary Shift – reputed to have been the first gay bar

MERIVALE OPENS ROYAL BONDI WITH BOTTOMS UP

Posted on September 24th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Merivale has reopened its new Bondi icon, the Royal Hotel, ushering a preserved past, pop-up dining concept on the way, and half-price drinks throughout October. Justin Hemmes’ pioneering group snatched the iconic Royal Hotel on Bondi Road in late 2017,

IRIS UNVEILS BIG-BUDGET RENO AT WENTWORTH HOMEBUSH

Posted on September 21st, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Iris has loosed the purse-strings again in the name of optimising its big-format Wentworth Hotel, striking a prominent and handsome pose on Parramatta Road in Homebush. Sam Arnaout’s Iris Capital bought the two-storey brick heritage pub beside one of Sydney’s

HARDIMAN’S REVIVAL SEES NEW OPEN DOOR

Posted on September 14th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Michael Thiele and Craig Ellison are back, with the grand unveiling of their rebuilt Hardiman’s Hotel in Kensington, turning a new page for the duo. Thiele and Ellison were the drive behind the former Open Door Pub Co, which grew

EAST BRUNSWICK TO JUMP AGAIN WITH NEW LOOK

Posted on September 3rd, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
After selling at auction late last year for $4.4 million, the iconic East Brunswick Hotel is back with a new look for another encore. The pub is a three-storey corner structure on a compact 380sqm block that was operated for

TOUGH TIMES CLOSE TWO QUEENSLAND PUBS

Posted on August 27th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
Queensland regional pubs are doing it tough amid rising costs for transport and utilities, with two stories of planned revival resulting in recent closure. Wendy and Bruce McFarlane own and operate the Royal Hotel at Rubyvale in Queensland’s gem fields,

PHMG UNVEILS NEW TOXTETH FOR A MODERN GLEBE

Posted on August 13th, 2018 by Clyde Mooney
PHMG has reopened the reinvented Toxteth Hotel, where “nostalgia meets innovation”, following a comprehensive six-month renovation. Public House Management Group (PHMG) bought the inner-west pub early 2017 for $22 million from Singleton and Dixon’s Riversdale Group. The Toxteth – aka