The Royal Hotel, Queenscliff, Victoria

The Royal

Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip.

The Royal Hotel in Queenscliff was built in 1854 by Irish immigrant William Leihy a Borough Councillor who bought the land in an area that was then out of town in the hope that the town would grow and surround him. He also owned a hotel in Geelong.

The hotel was the first of a group of grand hotels built in the mid to late 1800s to cater for tourists who travelled down from Melbourne on large steamers. The trip taking about two hours. The hotel originally featured 54 rooms.
The Royal is a truely majestic hotel whose decorative wrought iron work, colonades and tower make it a landmark building that is visible to all ships that enter Port Phillip Bay though the trecherous Rip.

The Mount Inn, Mt Moriac, Victoria

The Mount Inn, Moriac, Victoria (formely known as the Moriac Pub)

Moriac is a rural town in Victoria, Australia, located approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Geelong. It forms part of the Surf Coast Shire. At the 2006 census, Moriac had a population of 594.

The town was surveyed in the 1920s as a village based around the Moriac railway station on the Port Fairy line. The station had been provided to serve the adjacent community of Mount Moriac. The railway through Moriac opened in 1876, followed by the Wensleydale branch line which junctioned with the main line just past Moriac. The branch line opened in 1890 and closed in 1948. A Post Office had opened on 1 August 1854 as Duneed, and was renamed Mount Moriac in 1864 and Moriac in about 1909.

The pub has recently been totally renovated. It is now the best looking pub in the middle of no where.

 

Lorne Hotel, Lorne, Victoria

Lorne Hotel, Victoria

Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay in Victoria, Australia It is situated about the Erskine River and is a popular destination on the Great Ocean Road tourist route.

The pub here is an actual icon, this is the pub referred to in the now famous annual 'Pier to Pub'  ocean swimming race.

The Lorne pub is the hub of the Lorne township, overlooking the Louttit Bay and the famous Lorne Surf Lifesaving Club.

The roof top beer garden has the best views and ambience on the coast.

Grand Pacific Hotel, Lorne, Victoria

Grand Pacific, Lorne, Vic

Lorne is situated on a bay named after Captain Louttit, who sought shelter there in 1841 while supervising the retrieval of cargo from a nearby shipwreck. The coast was surveyed five years later in 1846. The first European settler was William Lindsay, a timber-cutter who began felling the area in 1849. The first telegraph arrived in 1859. Subdivision began in 1869 and in 1871 the town was named after the Marquess of Lorne from Argyleshire in Scotland on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Louise, one of Queen Victoria's daughters.

 Built in 1875 with superb ocean views in one of the most unique settings on the coast, the hotel is opposite surf beaches and the Lorne Pier.

 

Stag Hotel, Learmonth, Victoria

Stag Hotel, Leamonth, Victoria

The Stag Hotel has been closely associated with the early history of Learmonth. It is the second oldest hotel in the Ballarat district, the oldest being Craig's Hotel (originally known as Bath's Hotel). The Stag Hotel was established in 1854, the first licence being granted to a Mr. Mackenzie, and the licence was held by a member of the Mackenzie family continuously for 68 years; surely a record for any hotel in Victoria.

Barwon Hotel, Winchelsea, Australia

Barwon Hotel, Winchlesea

Winchelsea is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is in the Surf Coast Shire local government area and located on the Barwon River 115 km south-west of Melbourne and close to Geelong (37 km north-east).

The Barwon Hotel sits on the banks of the Barwon River, next to the historic bluestone bridge in the centre of Winchelsea. The Barwon Hotel itself is a historic building, being one of the earliest constructions when the town was founded next to the Barwon river crossing.

The town developed around the Barwon Inn (hotel), established in 1842 by Prosper Nicholas Trebeck and Charles Beal. The Post Office opened as Barwon on 1 July 1848 and was renamed Winchelsea in 1854.

Winchelsea Tavern

The 'Winch'

The Winchelsea Hotel has a lot of history. In 1852 the site of the Winchelsea Hotel formed part of one of the earliest subdivisions of this historic township.

The Hotel building appears to have been first constructed in late 1864 for Timothy Hardyman. Until c.1873, the Hotel also operated as a store, with stables being part of the complex until at least 1903.

Mary Considine was owner and occupier of the Hotel in 1913. Her Victorian style building was clad in Oregon block work, remnants of which have been used inside the Hotel in a re-creation of the Considine era façade.

A rear outbuilding which is virtually unchanged since its construction c.1920, currently serves as the Hotel’s Function Room.
In the late 1920’s a large part of the original building was destroyed by fire. However it wasn’t until the 1930’s and 40’s that alterations and additions gave the Hotel subtle Art Deco overtones

Few changes were made to the building until a long and extensive overhaul of the Winchelsea Hotel began in 2005.