The entire 16,000sqm of land is licensed at Steampacket Hotel
REGIONAL STORIES
Riverside
entertainment
The new owners of the Steampacket Hotel have big plans for this community hotspot. By Caoimhe Hanrahan-Lawrence.
LOCATED ON NSW’s South Coast, Nelligen’s Steampacket Hotel
regional towns, and they’re looking for a little bit more from what
has recently been bought by the Meem Collection, consisting
they can find in their local pub. We really want to enhance what the
of Ben Johnston and Kalina Koloff. Johnston and Koloff also
local pub could provide, so we’ve spent a lot of money to renovate
run the Old Canberra Inn and the Dixson Taphouse, and first
the site, focusing a lot on the kitchen,” Johnston explained.
became aware of the Steampacket Hotel while driving from Canberra to the NSW South Coast.
Live music and other fun
“Like a lot of Canberrans, we own a place on the South Coast
The Steampacket is well known for hosting NelliJam, a twice-yearly
for holidays. To get to the South Coast from Canberra, you have
music festival that brings a lot of interest to the area. Remarkably,
to drive past the Steampacket Hotel and it’s a beautiful spot just
the entire 16,000 square metre venue of the Steampacket is
before you get to Bateman’s Bay,” Johnston explained.
licensed, so liquor can be sold in the carpark space where NelliJam
Nelligen and the nearby towns are popular tourist locations, with
is held. Coming from strict noise limits in Canberra, the ability to
a notable surge in trade over the summer. Because of this, the
hold live music events was exciting for Johnston. Both the size of
Steampacket needs to be flexible enough to cope with the summer
the venue and the distance between the Steampacket and other
rush, as well as serve locals throughout the rest of the year.
houses reduce noise concerns, and the campground is the closest
“In the summertime, you have the Nelligen local community,
spot to any live music events.
you’ve got the broader Bateman’s Bay community. You also have
“When we have the events on, it actually helps the business
across the road, this beautiful campground right on the banks of
of the campground, for people to attend the event and stay at
the [Clyde] river and it is heaving in summertime. The challenge for
the campground at the same time. It’s actually a really great
the pub is in the middle of winter on a Tuesday, how do we make
match. As long as we don’t have the events playing too late, the
it cosy and inviting for the locals? And then in the summertime,
local community are very supportive of it. NelliJam has been
when there’s so many people, how can we really expand and really
something that’s received a lot of community support, through
deliver great service to a whole lot of people,” Johnston explained.
sponsorships and volunteer workers that would like to get
The Steampacket Hotel recently underwent a number of renovations, most notably to the kitchen. “It’s one of those post-covid things, where these regional areas really got a big boost. There’s a lot of people relocating to these
26 | Australian Hotelier
involved,” Johnston enthused. As well as large events like NelliJam, the Steampacket has a number of regular entertainment offerings. There is live music in the beer garden every Saturday and Sunday, and there will be
