Main bar wiith four-tank brewhouse behind
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early three years in the planning and making, Colin Parras Hospitality reopened The Ambarvale Hotel in Campbelltown, NSW towards the end of April 2019. Having purchased the property for $21.2m in December 2016 from the Lantern Hotel Group, Parras admits the huge renovations have cost “many millions and there’s probably a few more to go with stage four. We’re three-quarters of the way there,” but he won’t be drawn on the actual bottom line. Following hot on the heels of Arthur Laundy’s The Marsden – an opening Parras and his project designer Paul Kelly, of Paul Kelly Design – says is entirely coincidental, The Ambarvale represents another supremely largeformat renovation, innovative in concept and a game-changer in execution. The intent, both Parras and Kelly say, is as huge as the venue: essentially to be all things to all people.
ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE “We have everything from sports theatres to cafés to function spaces,” says Parras. “We have The Greenhouse, which is more of a day style of venue. We have a brewery [Ambarvale Brewing Co] for the craft beer lovers, and we have a really fantastic bistro. Not to forget we also have a children’s area for the younger ages from, say, eight [years] to zero. Something for everyone.
26 | JUNE 2019 AUSTRALIAN HOTELIER
PARRAS HOSPITALITY’S AMBARVALE HOTEL HAS OPENED IN WESTERN SYDNEY AIMING TO BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PATRONS. CRAIG HAWTIN-BUTCHER REVEALS EXACTLY HOW THEY PLAN TO DO IT.
“In those spaces there are fireplaces, the craft beer area, lounge areas, etc. We have an outdoor public bar at the back of the terrace, a TAB with a big video wall, it goes on and on!” says Parras. “Essentially what we’re doing is we’re splitting up the whole business into separate markets,” says Kelly, “and trying to provide a large aperture – not only because of the numbers but because of the diversity of the demographic. So we’re really trying to get something for everyone.” That sense of being an entertainment centre suitable for all, at all times of the day and night, indoors and outdoors, is palpable. “It’s probably the first time we’ve done it,” says Kelly, “but we’ve managed to blend the major markets, as far as demographics are concerned. We’ve been able to blend everyone into the one venue without saying ‘this is a particular market we’re going for’. “We’ve got kids, older people, young people, families, tradies, gaming patrons, mums, nondrinkers – not everything in this venue is about alcohol. A lot of it is about food and coffee and cakes and spending time. A lot of people use this venue as a destination to spend time in. Because it’s so big, we have the opportunity to do that. It’s the first time we’ve been able to pull it off properly,” says Kelly.
DESTINATION: AMBARVALE Creating a destination venue was, Kelly says, the entire focus of the initial brief. “The original brief for the project was to create something like Gregory Hills [Hotel]. To create a destination that would rival some of the larger formats – Macarthur Tavern, Gregory Hills, The Marsden. “We weren’t aware of The Marsden when we were building this thing, but what the intention is, is that in the suburb of Campbelltown there are a lot of feeder suburbs. Because of the vast size of the suburbs out there, people don’t mind driving. So if we provide a destination, in a large format, with something that was over and above the competition. That was the strategy: to blow everyone else out of the water,” says Kelly. Parras was, he says, immediately drawn to the location and the hotel’s scale, which provided the potential to execute his strategy: “It overlooks lovely rolling hills and I always thought that would create a great backdrop to do a nice outdoor space,” says Parras. “The hotel itself was on a very large footprint, 7,000sqm, and the dwelling in itself was a large footprint. We thought it had the bones to become something really special.” The south-west Sydney location was also a massive draw, says Parras, given the extensive developments taking place in the