Bar, Bistro and Laneway

The enduring pleasure of gathering.

Imagine a banquet in the early 1900s. Conversations fill the room beneath decorative plasterwork made to create a sense of grandeur. Look up today and notice the soaring ceilings, ceiling roses, mouldings and early twentieth-century cornices—details easily missed in the bustle of a meal.

The hotel has always evolved with the people who gather here. Sarah Cox, recorded as publican in 1860, expanded its billiard and night trade. In 1887, following Eliza’s passing in 1884, Charles Forster petitioned the Licensing Court for a second public bar facing Lydiard Street to serve thriving evening trade. Mary J. Fern followed among the publicans in 1893.

George Lauder, recorded in 1917, and later Martha Lauder navigated six o’clock closing and special dining permits. In 1926, substantial interior alterations under Victorian Licensing Board requirements brought further changes to the layout. Differences in timberwork and room arrangements tell the story of a building repeatedly adapted to new expectations.

Another era arrived with Mrs M. M. Cameron, recorded in 1935. Renovations in 1938 redecorated bar facilities and public spaces in fashionable Art Deco style during a period of licence renewal. Olive May Hancock was another publican in 1940. Compare the clean lines of later design with the older ornamentation overhead: several generations of hospitality share these rooms.

The acquisition of an adjacent property allowed the owners to extend the precinct through a Melbourne-style laneway to Armstrong Street North. Gary Browning helped create this connection, opening a new passage and another way to discover the hotel.

Today, the Heritage Bar Bistro offers classic regional hospitality and traditional Devonshire Tea. The Lane Cafe welcomes visitors for barista coffee, breakfast, morning or afternoon tea, lunch and light dining. The Wine Bar showcases local drops alongside wines from the Pyrenees and Grampians. The historic dining-room space now accommodates modern gaming amenities.

Dining, drinks, functions, accommodation and live entertainment continue the hotel’s role as a place to meet, celebrate and rest. Across changing room names, licensing laws and fashions, the rhythm of shared meals and conversation endures. Take a seat: today’s gathering is another chapter in that story.