October 9, 2013
A crowd of close to 100 people gathered outside the 110-year-old Wondai Hotel at noon on Saturday for the official reopening of the building as the new Wondai Hotel & Cellar.
South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann performed the opening ceremony by cutting the ribbon across the hotel’s front doors.
Then he walked up to the bar to become the first person to officially buy a beer in the new hotel, as well as the first person to give a shout when he purchased a second beer for former Wondai Mayor Percy Iszlaub.
The opening was a high point for Wondai Hotel owners Michael and Jessica Beohm and Jessica’s mother Eleanor Bellgrove.
The trio purchased the property last November, and have so far spent almost a year refurbishing and renovating the old building.
On Saturday, excited guests got to see the first results of their efforts: a stylish modern bar area and indoor restaurant decorated in a 1930s theme; and a covered, two-level outdoor deck overlooking green lawns and a modern children’s play gym.
In a few months the hotel also intends to open a period-style bed and breakfast when renovations of the second floor are complete, as well as a bottle shop.
The rear lawns will ultimately house gardens and a stage for concerts, weddings and large public gatherings.
Mayor Kratzmann congratulated the owners for all their hard work and said he was “absolutely delighted” to see the historic hotel brought back to life after several years out of action.
“As a former Wondai boy, I have a lot of happy memories about this hotel. And I think that goes for many other people here today as well,” he said.
“It’s wonderful to see such a great new facility come to our region, and I congratulate you for all your hard work. Well done!”
In addition to standard hotel services, the new building is also Wondai’s first cellar door.
It stocks South Burnett wines from Kingsley Grove Estate; house-branded, locally produced “Yolo” wines; and 35 other brands sourced from all around Australia and overseas.
Michael Beohm – who grew up in Victoria’s Yarra Valley – said the trio had drawn their renovation inspirations from similar venues in well-known wine tourism areas.
“We wanted to create a place that everyone in Wondai would enjoy coming to visit, but one that will also be very attractive to tourists visiting the South Burnett,” he said.
“Over the next year the centre of Wondai is going to be completely redesigned to draw more tourists to the town, and we want to be a part of Wondai’s revitalisation.”
Later that afternoon, Percy Iszlaub joined Jessica Beohm on the hotel’s rear deck to cut a special birthday cake to celebrate not only the hotel’s reopening, but also Wondai’s 110th birthday (the town was founded in 1903).
He said he had many, many memories of the hotel over the years – including the time that a cattleman had ridden a horse up the stairs to the hotel’s second story but had been unable to ride the horse back down again.
“They were starting to think that the only way they could get the horse out would be to winch it down off the top floor balcony,” he said.
“But then someone suggested backing the horse down the stairs rather than trying to ride it down. And it took awhile, but they did it that way and it worked.”
The new hotel will now open Wednesdays to Sundays.
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