No respite for Australia's top pub

Far from resting on its laurels, the Cremorne Hotel, winner of Australia’s best metropolitan hotel in 2023, is like a champion sports team, hungry for more success.

“It drives everyone on,” said Grace Kelliher, the hotel’s venue manager.

“We want to be the best.

“As soon as we won the award, the next day I sent a massive congratulations to everyone, saying how proud of them I was for all of their hard work.

“But I also said, ‘This is not going to get any easier because now we’ve set the expectations quite high, so people are going to come rolling through the doors expecting this award-winning service’.”

Grace wasn’t mistaken.

The phones rang spare with people trying to book for the busy Christmas season, already at capacity.

And January, traditionally hospitality’s quietest month, never materialised for staff at the Cremorne, as wave after wave of customers rolled through the doors.

EXPANSION PLANS

Duxton Hospitality Services, which added the Cremorne to its ever-growing stable of pubs in 2021, hasn’t remained flat-footed either.

It plans to expand the hotel after purchasing two adjacent shops, ‘Granny’s Corner for Classic Decor’ and ‘Oxford Antiques and Restorations’.

“It’s going to add a lot more area to the beer garden and indoor space, all while expanding our bottle shop which will have a nice little patisserie as well.

“The antique shop is actually heritage listed, so I believe we will have to keep that facade.”

It’s a hurdle Grace and the Group know all too well, having been denied the opportunity to alter the Unley Road facade of the Cremorne because of its own heritage listing.

“That’s always been one my biggest things. Everyone walks through the hotel and says, ‘you’d never know how beautiful it is inside when you look at the outside’.

“We say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ so don’t judge a pub by its facade.

“I think we’re the perfect example of that. It’s a nice surprise, like when you go into one of those hidden bars in Melbourne.”

The Cremorne’s Unley Road frontage remains virtually untouched since the pub opened in 1854.

There are plans afoot to have it painted but even that will be a challenge to have approved.

An application was previously made to install blinds on the pub’s upstairs balcony that adorns its newly renovated function rooms – yet to hear back.

But rather than remain hamstrung by the past, the new owners are doing their best to embrace it.

“There is a little something in the works for our upstairs area which will be able to complement the whole unique vibe so we can use it to our advantage,” Grace said.

“It’s going to be amazing. It’s just been approved and will hopefully be done by the end of year.

“It’s something a little bit different to the space – and the area.”

Grace started just one day after Duxton Hospitality Services purchased the Cremorne.

That is when the foundations of the Cremorne’s meteoric rise were laid.

“I feel like when I first came in, we started our staff from scratch,” she said.

“Everyone was brand new. We’ve been able to retain those staff and keep our excellent customer service going.

“We’ve been able to build relationships with people within the community.

“My big thing is customer service. It’s all about making that experience.”

HAPPY TEAM

To keep customers happy, you must first keep staff content, said Grace.

“If I’ve got happy staff, I can retain them and that will flow through to the service that we’ll provide.

“I’ve seen the transition from the old school hospitality way where you could walk into a kitchen and someone might throw something at your head if you ask a question at the wrong time.

“Now, it’s fun. It’s hard work but you make good friendships and you’re having fun while you’re doing it.

“The venue manager used to be able to sit in the office and kind of hide a little bit and just come out and spook everyone. Now it’s about being on the floor and leading.

“If my staff can see me clearing tables, they’re not going to stand behind the bar and keep chatting.

“They want to work for someone who’s going to help them rather than just say, ‘you do that’.

“It’s the difference between being a leader and a dictator.”

MANAGING YOUTH

It’s also about learning to work with Generation Z. “You really have to shift your management style.

“This generation likes to be vocal. They will stand up for themselves which is great but you have to understand where they are coming from, that rather than think, ‘oh, they’re complaining, they don’t want to work hard."

“They just know their rights and their limits.

Duxton Hospitality Services, which added the Cremorne to its ever-growing stable of pubs in 2021, hasn’t remained flat-footed either. It plans to expand the hotel...

“We have to shift our management styles to meet with them otherwise they’re just not going to hang around.” Work-life balance, she said, is the key to keeping her staff happy and engaged.

“It’s a big thing.

“I have someone who asked why I was hiring more staff and I said it’s because I want our team to have flexibility. If I say no to a holiday or to a festival or their best mate’s 21st, they’re not going to be happy.

“It’s important to allow that work-life balance and that goes for the management team too.

RENOVATION SUCCESS

The Cremorne’s other transformational moment in 2021 was its renovation.

“It was really just a massive freshen up, more of a facelift than anything.

“There was not so much structural work done but a lot more of refinishing everything, the painting, the new bar tops, just really starting from fresh.

“It’s got a lot more character now. Before, it was very dark. Now, it’s nice and fresh.

“We’ve got big booths for big groups where people can sit around and have a chat and we’ve got acoustic panelling to absorb the noise from Unley Rd.

“There’s a fireplace and we’ve got a louvered roof with big curtains that come down in the beer garden so that it’s weatherproofed all year around.”

CREATIVITY

The hotel also added artwork from the Hugo Michell Gallery at Beulah Park and Brisbane artist Gerwyn Davies, maker of Australia’s most outrageous selfies.

“We’ve got some new and unique artwork.

“Gerwyn makes costumes and then photographs himself wearing them. So when people walk in, they think, ‘oh that’s different’.

“It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it adds a little bit of spice to the place.”

Despite the renovations, staff changes and all their hard work, it didn’t stop Grace’s astonishment when the Cremorne took out the nation’s top gong for best pub.

“I honestly was so shocked.

“The staff are very proud, it’s why I enjoy working with them so much. It’s been a challenge but it’s also been easy thanks to the team we’ve been able to build.”

The Cremorne had already captured the national metropolitan awards for ‘Best Bar Presentation & Experience’ and ‘Best Bistro Casual Dining’ when it landed the ultimate prize.

Grace thinks it’s the entire experience that makes visiting the Cremorne so special, while honouring the Duxton ethos to have visitors ‘come a stranger, leave a friend’.

“It really comes down to what people see when they come through those doors.

“They are welcomed.

“It’s not just, ‘what drink are you having?’

“It’s going above and beyond that, asking how their day is and getting a little bit personal with people.”