- The Castlepoint/Whakatiki Hotel lost its licence after serving intoxicated customers.
- Owners are selling the pub, which includes an eight-bedroom hotel.
- Former employees have taken over the lease and applied for a new liquor licence.
A top country pub with no beer and no licence has hit the market for sale.
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Masterton District Licensing Committee refused at the end of last year to renew the licence for the Castlepoint/Whakatiki Hotel, in Wairarapa, after the pub served intoxicated customers.
The operators appealed and were allowed to run the pub over the Christmas holidays, but during that time, the pub was raided by police and the licence was permanently pulled.
The pub sits on a 1ha site in Masterton and has been upgraded by the vendors. Photo / Supplied
The pub is owned by former chef Ash Thomas and his friends Jason Osborne and Jason Le Grove. Thomas, who is now a real estate agent with Tremains, told OneRoof he didn't agree with the committee's decision, but accepted there was no fighting it.
“We see it as a bit of a witch hunt regarding them coming after us to get us to lose our licence,” he said.
“We weren’t perfect. We did bend the rules a bit too far, and that’s why we lost the licence."
Thomas, who has been tasked with selling the property, said the business had been doing well and the trio had loved being an important part of the community.
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“It was going great. There was literally nothing wrong with the trade or anything like that. We put in a full commercial kitchen - all new stoves and an extraction unit. We did the back bar up, we bought a lot of new furniture and soft furnishings for the rooms.
“It was a really good business, and we’d put our heart and soul into it. But yeah, that’s the way things go. You’ve just got to take it on the chin and move on.”
The property includes an eight-bedroom hotel with a guest lounge, six cabins, caravan and motorhome sites, and a secure lease with North Fuels supplying diesel to the wider community.
The pub was named as one of New Zealand’s top country pubs in 2024. Photo / Supplied
Thomas said two former pub employees, Celeste Blakesley and Amanda Aitken, had taken over the lease and applied for a new liquor licence.
“Hopefully [it will be granted] in about eight weeks. They’ve had the licensing inspector go around and do the chat with them and the checks and everything.”
However, Blakesley and Aitken were willing to step aside, Thomas said, if a buyer wanted to run the hospitality and tourism business as well as own the building.
“You could buy it now and let the lease run for three years with the current tenants. You're still going to be getting the income from the lease. Or the tenants are willing to step out of the lease, and a new owner could take it over and run the whole thing themselves. It gives you some good options.”
There has been a pub on the site since around 1872. However, the original building burned down in the 1920s and was rebuilt. In 2024, the hotel was named one of New Zealand's top country pubs by celebrated hospitality reviewer Peter Janssen.
- 5726 Masterton Castlepoint Road, Masterton, is for sale, tenders closing May 28
