Open & Closed

QUESTIONS OVER PLAN TO RAISE RAZED ICON

Posted on September 23rd, 2026 by Clyde Mooney
A Townsville man is attempting to rally the locals to raise $4.5 million to restore and revive the city’s legendary, beleaguered and burned Great Northern Hotel, despite skeletons in the closet.   The grand Federation-style Hotel opened in 1901, offering

THE WAKEFIELD HAS WELCOMED A COLOURFUL NEW ADDITION

Posted on September 23rd, 2026 by Jane Louise
Adelaide has a new cocktail bar, and it has brought a serious dose of disco glamour with it. Velvet Violet opened above the Wakefield Hotel last Saturday, transforming the pub’s upstairs space into a colourful late-night destination built around cocktails,

SAND HILL ROAD’S NEW DIGS IN INNER MELBOURNE

Posted on September 21st, 2026 by Clyde Mooney
Melbourne-based pub powerhouse Sand Hill Road is gearing up for its next greatness with a shuttered, blank canvas Inn in Fitzroy. Sand Hill Road group is five old mates who joined forces more than two decades ago, in their 20s,

PRENDIVILLE PROMISES POOLSIDE PLEASURE

Posted on September 11th, 2026 by Jane Louise
Darwin is about to get a new kind of hotel hangout, with The Leea beginning its transformation under Western Australian hospitality group Prendiville Group, while inviting locals to help shape its next chapter. The 168-room property on Cavenagh Street unveiled

THE FLYING FOX PUTS A BRITISH SPIN ON THE LOCAL

Posted on August 10th, 2026 by Jane Louise
Forget the sprawling Melbourne pub. The Flying Fox is taking a more intimate approach to the neighbourhood local, with a British pub ethos. The latest opening from the team behind St Kilda’s The Lion & Wombat has landed on Bridge

ALH’S ESPLANADE HOTEL SET TO REOPEN AFTER $11.5M REVAMP

Posted on August 7th, 2026 by Jane Louise
Brighton's historic Esplanade Hotel is set to reopen next month following an $11.5 million redevelopment that includes the launch of a new boutique beachfront hotel. The landmark Adelaide venue has been closed since October while owner ALH Group completed a

WESTONS REVIVE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES

Posted on August 3rd, 2026 by Jane Louise
The fireplaces are burning again at inner Melbourne’s Friendly Societies Hotel, marking the return of one of the suburb's oldest pubs after almost two years sitting empty. Reopened in June by Leo Weston and his parents, Clare and Nathan, Friendly

UNIVERSAL WELCOMES ODD CULTURE AT THE IMPY

Posted on July 31st, 2026 by Clyde Mooney
The Kospetasfamily’s Universal Hotels and James Thorpe’s Odd Culture Group haves announced a partnership at the famous Imperial Hotel Erskineville, performing a major makeover to cement its legacy. Popularly known as ‘The Impy’ the striking multi-level hotel was established in

REGIONAL BREWERY LATEST CASUALTY OF HOSPITALITY SQUEEZE

Posted on July 20th, 2026 by Jane Louise
Regional Victorian brewery King River Brewing has shut the doors to its taproom, becoming the latest hospitality business forced to scale back as operators continue to battle mounting costs and softer consumer spending. The King Valley brewery announced the immediate

BRISBANE’S FOX REVIVED AS THE TERMINUS

Posted on June 29th, 2026 by Clyde Mooney
Hotel Terminus has made a triumphant return to South Brisbane, courtesy of the Ghanem brothers’ large-scale remodelling of the former Fox Hotel.   Fish Lane has become one of Brisbane’s pre-eminent dining precincts and the reopening of the Hotel marks