Prince of Wales and Lawson Park among state’s best pubs
The Australian Hotel Association (AHA) NSW Awards for Excellence on Monday night felt like “being at the ARIA’s” for Prince of Wales proprietor Rowena Ellis.
Ellis travelled own to Sydney and The Star for the hotel industry’s night of nights after the Prince of Wales was nominated as a finalist in two of the awards categories Best Traditional Bar and Best Pub Style Accommodation.
Unfortunately for the local hotel industry, neither the Prince of Wales Hotel nor the Lawson Park Hotel, who was also nominated for two awards, walked away with the top prize.
“The night was amazing,” Mrs Ellis said. We didn’t win but we were up against some really tough competition in both of the categories.”
The Prince of Wales Hotel finished behind the Willoughby Hotel in the Best Traditional Hotel Bar category while the Lawson Park Hotel finished behind the Willow Tree Inn in the Best Steak Venue category.
Steve Barber, Rowena Ellis, Michelle Curry and Toby Wood of the Prince of Wales Hotel travelled down to Sydney for the AHA Awards for Excellence on Monday.
“Unfortunately it was no good for the Lawson this year,” Lantern Hotel Group Executive Chef Mitchell Davis said. “We had a bit of a bad year but we were able to turn it around and we have a new team working at the hotel so we’ll work towards the future and look towards going one better in next year’s awards.”
Mrs Ellis said it was amazing to even think that the Prince of Wales had been named alongside some of the best hotels in NSW, even if they didn’t walk away a winner.
“To make it as a finalist was just amazing for both myself and the pub,” she said. “We all felt very special and rewarded for a lot of hard work. The master of ceremonies was Vince Sorrenti and the venue, meals and service were unreal.”
Mrs Ellis said as well as attending the awards ceremony, the five Prince of Wales staff members received invitations to the after party held at the Marquee.
The Australian Hotel Association (AHA) Awards for Excellence are the most prestigious awards ceremony in the hospitality industry. The awards honour the achievements of excellence across NSW hotels. The Awards nights for 2013 also marks the 140th anniversary of the day a group of hoteliers first agreed to work together for the good of the industry, staff and patrons.
“The Association has more than 1800 members and represents more than 100,000 of the hardest workers in NSW,” Mrs Ellis said.
The Prince of Wales has plans for renovations to the hotel and will add new accommodation to the hotel in the coming year.
“We look forward to more successful nominations at future AHA awards,” Mrs Ellis said.
Source: The Mudgee Guardian, 29 November 2013
