The Commercial Boutique Hotel, our beautiful Art Deco 1940’s Hotel wins awards in the 2016 Tenterfield Tourism Awards

We are certainly very proud to have received first place in ‘Tourism’, ‘Innovation’ and also ‘Hospitality’ categories, and second place in ‘Business Of The Year’ and ‘Customer Service’ at the Tenterfield Tourism Awards this year.  We are pleased as punch! What an amazing two years it has been since we bought the hotel, and decided to renovate and finally opened our doors! We are so very pleased to hear that our dining patrons and accommodation guests have liked the final outcome.

The Commercial Hotel was originally built in the 1856 and was burnt down twice, once in 1877 and then again in the 1930’s. Rebuilt in 1941 as a hotel by the Tooheys Corporation, this two-story Art Deco building went through many stylistic alterations over the years at the whim of various publicans. And, on one fateful day in 2006, the staff and managers closed shop for the last time and never returned.

Our family partnership took on the mammoth task of renovating and restoring this historic piece of architecture in September of 2013. To our surprise, even after 7 years of closure there were still kegs tapped and beds made up complete with folded towels and bars of soap. Our aim was to return the building to its original 1940s grandeur while adding an element of minimalistic industrial retro charm. We also wanted to provide spacious boutique rooms and bathrooms – all the comforts of modern travelling.

While stripping the hotel we came upon some stunning original features that we knew we wanted to preserve. One such was the exposed red Tenterfield brick that was a staple of local construction during the Second World War. Others included the solid silky-oak doors with their original leadlight, the stunning rustic fireplaces that had been tiled over with chintzy 70s décor, and the ornate cornices and charming balustrades.

After ensuring the preservation of these incredible features we then converted the existing 18 rooms into 8 luxury accommodation rooms, and developed the ground floor into a high quality restaurant, a craft beer & wine bar and a more casual dining sports bar for the enjoyment of our local patrons.

We proudly opened the hotel, wine bar and restaurant to the public on September 19th 2014, and followed that up with the official opening of the Curve Bar on September 19th 2015.