- The 150-year-old Hurunui Hotel is set to reopen after being closed for over a year.
- Sourav Sharma will manage the hotel, aiming to open the bar and restaurant by the end of the month.
- The hotel will reopen in stages, with the campground and guest rooms opening early next year.
A 150-year-old Canterbury pub that holds one of the country’s oldest liquor licence is gearing up to reopen its doors after being shut for more than a year.
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The Hurunui Hotel has been withdrawn from the market for sale after an unsuccessful search for a buyer. The owners have now activated plan B and found an experienced bar manager to run a business from the premises for three years.
Sourav Sharma moved to the area from Rakaia, in South Canterbury, a week ago and has been frantically getting everything ready for the grand reopening.
The new beer lines have been installed, the garden is being cleared, and everything is on track for the restaurant and bar to open later this month. An exact date will be given once the liquor licence for Sharma to run it is granted.
Hurunui Hotel was a popular spot for locals and tourists. Photo / Supplied
The hotel also offers accommodation, including six rooms and a campground. Photo / Supplied
Sharma has previously managed historic pubs in Ashburton and Selwyn. The Hurunui Hotel marks the first time he is running his own business instead of doing it for someone else.
Sharma told OneRoof he was drawn in by the long history of the hotel and the fact that it held the oldest liquor licence in the country.
“The history of the place had such a great impact on the area and the district as well. It just didn’t feel right that this place was shut.”
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The community’s response to the hotel reopening had been “unreal”.
People were stopping by to see what was happening, take selfies or look around the campground. The post on Facebook announcing it was reopening had also been heartening, he said.
“There’s not much of a community around the pub, but we have local towns that are less than a 10-minute drive, so we will be looking after those people popping in and those travellers from the Alpine Road.”
There’s also a function centre onsite. Photo / Supplied
There will also be a courtesy van to pick up and drop off locals living in towns such as Culverden, Hawarden and Waikari, which are within a 15km radius.
“That’s the one thing the location needed. We don’t want people to be drinking and driving and do all those silly things.”
It is also on the Alpine Pacific touring route that travels between Christchurch to Kaikōura via Hanmer Springs and Waipara, so it could provide a welcome pitstop for tourists.
“The vision is to breathe new life into this place.”
The Hurunui Hotel had been on the market for sale since 2021 for $1.695 million, when it was attached to a vineyard.
The Cardrona Hotel, in Queenstown-Lakes, was sold last month to a consortium of Kiwi investors. Photo / Supplied
Hurunui Hotel owner Adam Martin told OneRoof in August that he had dropped the asking price of the hotel to $995,000 but had still failed to attract a buyer.
He said the current climate had made it hard to find someone to take over the property, which is why they had gone ahead with their back-up plan and found a tenant to lease it.
“Rather than letting the building sit idle, we’ve since turned our focus to finding someone to lease it and bring it back to life.”
He received interest from people all over the country before giving the lease to Sharma, a South Canterbury resident.
The reopening of the Hurunui Hotel follows the recent sale of the Cardrona Hotel, in neighbouring Queenstown-Lakes. The historic property was listed for sale at the start of July and quickly became the country’s most viewed listing this year.
Co-owner Cade Thornton announced last month that the property had sold to a consortium of Kiwi investors, with Wānaka businessman Warren Barclay taking over as publican.
He previously told OneRoof that buyers from New Zealand, Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Singapore had been in touch.
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