01_QHA_July_Online

THE ROYALS
“IT WAS PRETTY REMARKABLE IN THOSE EARLY DAYS FOR A WOMAN TO RUN A PUB, BECAUSE
WOMEN WEREN’T ALLOWED IN HOTELS; AND ISN’T FUNNY THAT THE TOWN OF HARRISVILLE IS
DOMINATED BY WOMEN IN BUSINESS, THERE ARE LOTS OF LITTLE BUSINESSES UP THE ROAD
RUN BY WOMEN,” MONIKA EXPLAINED.
QHA REVIEW | 50
Unperturbed by the alleged paranormal activity, and
over a cup of tea, the current owners decided to
dive head first into the hospitality industry.
Following in the footsteps of its original licensee, the
Royal Hotel’s publican is another woman, Monika
Patrick, who together with her husband Steve, have
owned the hotel for the past 10 years.
“We accidentally fell into the place,” Monika said.
“Over a cup of tea I said to Steve, ‘maybe we should
make an offer’, and never in a million years did I
think they would accept the offer, and then we had
to get finance.
“So that’s how it all started, and when we bought
the hotel, it didn’t have a licence and was shut down
for a couple of years, but it was one of the oldest
pubs in the area.
“It was pretty remarkable in those early days for
a woman to run a pub, because women weren’t
allowed in hotels; and isn’t funny that the town of
Harrisville is dominated by women in business,
there are lots of little businesses up the road run by
women,” Monika explained.
The Royal Hotel is an old timber building with
traditional Queenslander features such as wraparound
verandahs and French doors adding to its
character and historical charm.
Set amongst a quaint country village, the Royal
Hotel is a destination pub perfect for weary
travellers.
“It’s a small little village, and back in the day it was a
thriving town which had a train line running through
it. It’s actually quite pretty,” Monika explained.
“We have a camel farm out here as well as camel
milk and facial products. We have a hydroponic farm
for herbs too - so it’s a country atmosphere out here.
“We’re on 1.6 acres and we back on to a lovely
creek so we get people coming to camp. They can
go to the creek, they can kayak for a bit. So people
come for a trip out, so it’s definitely a destination
pub.”
Focusing on the history of the town, the Patricks
purchased three train carriages which have attracted
the interest of film production companies.
“We bought three red rattler train carriages and we
managed to renovate the middle one and turn it into
accommodation, but we haven’t been able to do the
other two. Production teams come out to inspect
the train carriages, which are beautiful, and the two
end carriages still have their seats intact and are in
good condition. One lady came in the other week
who was also from a production company, and she
wanted to use the trains for a horror show,” Monika
said.
As a destination pub, the Royal Hotel offers not only
a beautiful backdrop in a country setting, it also
offers plentiful servings of delicious food and good
old-fashioned country service with a smile.
“The setting is gorgeous, all our staff are amazing.
I’ve had them for eight years and they offer a really
nice welcome for our customers. We greet them with
a smile on our faces and we have great food. We
offer a great package and we’ve developed a really
good reputation here at the Royal Hotel.”