Scott’s Spot

SCOTT VAUGHAN - AHA|SA MEMBERSHIP & BUSINESS SERVICES

Hello all and welcome to the November edition of Scott’s Spot. This month’s edition will cover photos and random observations over the last month.

Importantly, the spotlight will be on the Somerset Hotel in Millicent with publicans, Amanda and Alex Gordon discussing their venture into the hotel industry.

REGIONAL MEETINGS

This month the Alma Tavern, Norwood hosted the Metropolitan Regional, with over 100 members and corporate partners in attendance.

The regional meeting featured a panel discussion with Melanie Cooper - Coopers Brewery, Danny Celoni - Carlton United Breweries and David Smith - Lion Australia, that was both informative and extremely well received by our members. They added incredible value to this event and their views will be featured in the next issue of Hotel SA.

AROUND THE AHA|SA OFFICE AND AHA|SA AWARDS EXTRAVAGANZA

Congratulations to all the nominees and award winners, with the 2022 Awards for Excellence recently run and won. A special mention must go to EOS by SkyCity – Best Overall Accommodation Hotel, Loxton Hotel – Best Overall Country Hotel and the Stirling Hotel – Best Overall Metropolitan Hotel for winning the best overall hotel in each of their categories.

Enjoy a couple of stories that were sent anonymously to me, along with a couple of observations by yours truly.

Bronte Michelle, Chef from the Ceduna Foreshore Hotel Motel, was in attendance and won the prize for most kilometres travelled representing hotels for the night. Great guy - and I was lucky enough to be snapped with him.

Okay, so Didier Vollerin checking out the table planner is a normal thing to do, right? However, I took this snap at around 9pm with Didier in this spot for a good three minutes in a trance-like position. Hoping he found his intended target!

A FEW OBSERVATIONS FROM THE AWARDS NIGHT

Having a meat tray ‘raffle’ at the awards ceremony was a great idea.

It didn’t really feel like a front bar – given the 900 people in the room – but the two pool tables certainly helped with the overall effect.

There’s been a lot written about the psychology of shapes and how it affects peoples’ perceptions of things. Boy, did we see it in action on the night. The layout had changed dramatically, moving the stage by 90 degrees to the north. However, the biggest talking point was replacing round tables with rectangular tables. People were buzzing about it on the night and are still telling me how it great it was. Such a simple thing that made such a difference.

Who were those good-looking kids that starred in the video to announce the Best Family Dining award? It didn’t take long for those ‘not-in-the-know’ to work it out, based on family resemblances. They were Katherine Taylor’s children, Audrey and Ben. Katherine is the AHA|SA’s Manager of Communications.

With 900 attendees, the noise level amped up from time to time but MC Mark Soderstrom did a great job. He’s had a lot of experience at rowdy footy awards nights!

One award was missed on the night – AHA|SA Partner Fashion Award.

Drum roll please … and the award goes to Harold from Concept Collections. His attire is as smooth as his moves on the dance floor, although his son Shannon dominated the stage with incredible moves that would have Damo from the EDP Group feeling nervous. This is Harold’s moment though, so congrats.

Here’s my final comment regarding dancing... The chief of Hotel SA magazine, Tim Boylen, was the most exuberant dancer for the evening. I nearly passed out watching him! As you can see by the photo I snapped below, his concentration levels were extraordinary.

FAREWELL & WELCOME

I wanted to acknowledge venues who have been part of the AHA|SA for a number of years and wish them all the best for future endeavours, while welcoming new licensees.

• Criterion Hotel Gawler

• Alma Hotel Willunga

Here are a few snaps taken over the last few weeks.

The Wellington Hotel in North Adelaide.

The beautifully renovated Hamley Bridge Hotel. Less than an hour’s drive from Adelaide, go for a drive and check it out (also below).

Great to see country publicans at the Alma Norwood. Below is Rob McKenzie Railway Jamestown second from right with Heather Carson and Phil Carson far left from the Terminus in Morgan in amongst friends including everyone’s favourite, Brent Felice from Coopers. Sticking to the country tradition, they were last to leave the Metro Regional.

Lovely to catch up with Lucy O’Brien and Daniel Bigalke at the stunning Crowne Plaza.

Crowne Plaza.

A couple of snaps below of the renovated Kent Town Hotel. Look out for a feature article early in 2023. Didier was on the phone to Tom Hannah in the first photo.

That’s all for this edition. As always, any funny or even weird stories and or photos, please email to svaughan@ahasa.asn.au.

Until next time, bye.