One of Australia's oldest resort hotels for sale
The hotel acclaimed as the oldest resort hotel in Australia, which has counted royalty among its guests, is looking for a new owner.
The 1878 Imperial Hotel, in the NSW Blue Mountains village of Mount Victoria, where the young princes George V and George VI once slept and which still displays its 1901 Royal Coat of Arms, is on the market for between $910,000 and $990,000, less than the median house price in Sydney.
“It was the first what we call ‘tourist hotel’ built in Australia, a destination that people actually came to for their entire holiday,” says Elijah Deamer, owner of the heritage-listed hotel. “And now it’s the last surviving too.”
The hotel was the first where guests would go to stay as a destination. Photo: Supplied
“When it was built, it was the largest building in NSW outside Sydney. It’s huge, and when you think about the price of houses in Sydney now, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck!”
It’s not the only historic accommodation up for sale in the village, either. Just down the road is the 28-room Victoria & Albert Guesthouse, built in 1914 and extensively restored in 1989. With conference, wedding and function facilities and a 120-seat restaurant, that’s got a price tag of $2.25 million.
The two coming up for sale at similar times is coincidence, said Ray White Blackheath agent Alan Gregory, who is selling The Imperial.
Of the Victoria & Albert Guesthouse, Theo Poulos Real Estate Katoomba agent Peter Poulos said the current owner never ran the business; he kept it as an investment, and was the one to undertake the major restoration 28 years ago. “But now he’s ready to retire and move on,” Mr Poulos said.
Both businesses have a loyal local clientele and regular visitors from Sydney and further afield. People love visiting The Imperial, Mr Gregory said, for its iconic period grandeur and character that has survived many renovations.
“The owners closed the pub a couple of months ago when they first thought about putting it on the market,” he said. “But it still has its liquor licence and while it could do with a bit of work, there are a lot of opportunities there to re-establish the building as a destination pub or guesthouse.”
The main bar at the Imperial Hotel. Photo: Supplied
The Imperial, sitting on 3445 square metres, on Station Street, was bought four years ago by Mr Deamer, 53, a professional facilities manager and his wife Shua, 49. They’ve now decided to sell as their two eldest sons are now 19 and 17 and are planning to go to university, so the couple wants to move closer to town so the boys can still live with the family, including their sister, 15, and youngest brother, 10.
Mr Deamer decided to buy the pub after regularly driving past it as a youngster, going on holidays, and then when he lived for a while in Parkes.
“It’s such a beautiful building, and I could always imagine a bellboy standing there, ready to open the doors,” he said. “It looked very upper class. We love it and I know we’ll all miss it terribly.”
The hotel has 30 guest rooms and ballroom. Photo: Supplied
When the hotel was first opened as a resort hotel, it had its own golf course, tennis court, croquet lawn and home farm, and had horse-drawn coaches ferrying guests to the Jenolan Caves.
By the early 1900s it was, together with the Carrington at Katoomba and the Hydro Majestic at Medlow Bath – both restored in recent years – considered one of the grand hotels of the Mountains.
The Victoria and Albert Guesthouse, in Mount Victoria. Photo: Supplied
The Victoria & Albert is one of the Blue Mountains’ original guesthouses, and has a pool, spa room and café on the premises. Both are a 90-minute drive from Sydney, and are close to many of the mountains’ main tourist attractions, including The Three Sisters lookout.
