Moteliers the Dhaliwal family have entered the pub game, becoming the proud new owners of the Roche family’s Station Hotel Motel in Kurri Kurri.
The Station boasts history in the region, the design by acclaimed Maitland architect James Warren Scobie first opening in 1904.
A full-format offering, it includes public bar, commercial kitchen and bistro, function space, gaming room holding six Band 3 entitlements, beer garden, eight pub rooms and 16 onsite parking spaces, plus there is also, on a separate title, a free-standing motel of 17 rooms, and a separate manager’s residence.
For two decades it was owned and operated by long-time hoteliers Billy and Di Metcalfe, before they headed for retirement. DB Pubs, aka Roche group, took the deeds for around $4 million in 2021, at that time the hotel holding 10 gaming licences.
Records show it has now sold for a significant premium, at circa $6 million, despite the reduced gaming room count.
The acquisition is a foray into pubs for a private consortium led by the Dhaliwal family, who already own multiple accommodation and supermarket assets in the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley regions, and are currently constructing what will be an IGA in Weston.
Initially drawn to the accommodation aspect, the family is now reportedly looking forward to running the pub. PubTIC was unable to make contact prior to publication.
Cessnock possesses highly desirable hospitality qualities, enjoying above average population growth in NSW and a high population-per-hotel ratio, strong blue-collar employment, historic tourism trade as the most visited regional area in the state, with 1.4 million overnight stays annually, and in current times significant infrastructure spending, seen in the $600+ million Hunter Valley gas-fired power station.
“The Cessnock LGA enjoys a favourable trading environment, with irreplaceable market fundamentals,” notes HTL Property’s Xavier Plunkett, who transacted the hotel with colleague Ben Kennedy.
“The deal is a meaningful vote of confidence in the regional hotel market.”
