When serial pub renovator Anthony McDonald visited Queanbeyan in 2010 and "saw people crossing the street to avoid the Royal", he knew he was onto a winner.
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"When we bought it, it was the worst hotel in town," McDonald says of the Royal Hotel, built in 1926 on the corner of Crawford and Monaro streets.
"That was perfect for us - that's the way we operate. You buy the worst hotel, you're paying a price that reflects the worst hotel, but you're buying really good bones.
"The chequered history can be changed."
Eight years and millions of dollars later, both levels of the renovated Royal Hotel are finally open to the public. The pub's stunning 1920s features have been maintained and highlighted, complemented by luxurious accessories including antique velvet chairs and globe drop lights.
The second floor of the Royal opened this week; a boutique events venue called Upper House. The space includes board rooms with modern conference facilities, a huge multipurpose dining and theatre room, and an outdoor atrium.
McDonald is bringing 1980s band Mental As Anything and country crooner James Blundell to town in the next few months to kick off what will become a busy music program. But it's actually the wedding market he's targeting - and for the first time ever the Royal Hotel will be home to its very own bridal suite.
"Well, it's less a bridal suite and more a bridesmaids' suite," McDonald's wife Sandy explains.
"A beautiful space where the bride and her bridesmaids can get ready, enjoy champagne - like a green room for the ladies before and during the wedding."
Byrne's Royal Hotel was built in 1850 - a two-storey structure with an open verandah, in one of the most prominent positions in town; overlooking the main street and facing toward the Queanbeyan river. The Royal Hotel was re-built in brick in 1926 by the Richardson family, and significantly extended to encompass shops on the ground floor and an increased number of rooms for guests upstairs.
Over the years it was a temporary home for migrant workers building the foundations of a new capital across the border, travelling salespeople and parliamentary staff during sitting weeks. Despite various renovations over the years, the pub was dated and in a poor state prior to being purchased by McDonald in 2010.
When it came to transforming and modernising one of Queanbeyan's most iconic watering holes, McDonald was definitely the man for the job. He'd completely gutted and renovated Goulburn's Astor and Tattersall hotels, and arrived in Queanbeyan with a plan for bringing the formidable, two-storey, 1600sqm hotel back to life.
"We knew getting our food right and putting it into contemporary spaces was really what we needed to do - and thats what we've done here," McDonald says.
"The pulse of my business is food - I can measure how well I'm going by scraping plates and talking to people.
"When we get the food right we're confident and it's something that needs to be worked on and managed on a weekly basis, if you serve up a bad steak, that can effect everything."
"Cleaning up" the pub was a big focus for McDonald and then business partner Peter Griffiths, and is a big part of why people now come from Kingston and Barton to enjoy a beer and a meal at the Royal.
"We made sure that we kept our standards high, so tolerance in terms of language, tolerance in terms of dress standard, and we've got a price point that reflects those standards," McDonald says.
"We've created a safe environment."
When McDonald opened the doors on multi-million dollar renovations to the downstairs Royal Hotel in 2012, other pubs in Queanbeyan started to follow suit. The Tourist Hotel on Monaro Street recently had a glamorous makeover, as did the Hotel Queanbeyan (known as Top Pub) near the city's railway station. Walsh's Hotel, also located on Monaro Street, recently made some cosmetic changes.
McDonald loves it.
"If we're all trading well, you get a real precinct happening," he says.
"When people go out they like to bounce off a couple of venues, and when there's a strong offering close together, they'll stay in town and we won't have leakage out into Kingston, Braddon and Civic."
Does McDonald think Queanbeyan has a strong future?
"Yes, an outstanding future," he says.
"It's a strong community out here, really strong, and it's so much more of a community than Canberra.
"We've literally poured our heart and souls into the Royal - but we did our due diligence and always knew that it would be a success."
