QHA_June Mag_for web_small_R1

INSIGHTS
EVEN FLOW
THE GRAND VIEW HOTEL, LOCATED IN THE
WHITSUNDAYS REGION OF BOWEN, HAS BEEN A
STAPLE HOTEL IN THE AREA SINCE 1864 WHEN IT
WAS FIRST BUILT, BUT TODAY IS A SHOWCASE OF
BOTH RESILIENCE AND PERFECTIONISM.
The McLean family has owned the Grand View Hotel
since 1919 and since then the hotel has endured
one fire and two cyclones, yet the resilient building
continues to prosper.
Custodian of the hotel, Mike McLean, said the latest
renovation to the hotel, which saw the Grand View
Hotel win the 2017 QHA Excellence Award for Best
Redeveloped Licensed Premises Up to $2M &
Best Outdoor / Non-Enclosed Facility / Hotel of the
Year, was to bring the hotel back to its former glory
prior to 2000.
“The brief was to move the poker machine room to
its own existence rather than be part of the hotel. We
wanted them to have their own space, and make
them as comfortable as we could whilst replacing the
gaming room with the dining room and giving that the
view that it deserved which was of the Bowen Harbour.
“And the hotel being the Grand View, we thought we’d
take it back to what it was pre 2000,” Mike said.
“I think it flows better now. In 2000 we did a
renovation where we made the gaming room a focal
point of the hotel when gaming came into Queensland,
but we found it was time to take it back to its original
state with the bar and dining room at the front of the
hotel facing the harbour.”
Part of the award was for Best Outdoor/Nonenclosed
Facility and Mike said he had started the
redevelopment of the beer garden area 11 years ago
when the Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman film,
Australia was being filmed; a film in which the Grand
View Hotel features heavily.
QHA REVIEW | 39