Sutherland Shire’s first “vertical pub”, Highfield Caringbah, is on track to open in early December.
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The hotel will have similar styling, but will be significantly different to The Prince at Kirrawee, which was also built by the Feros Group.
Chief operations officer Simon Johnston said, at ground level, a new bar and gaming room were being built behind the existing Huxley’s US-style sports bar and Ugly Pizza, which opened nearly two years ago.
“The middle level, called the Public House, is a traditional Aussie sports bar with 22 beers on tap, the best TAB facilities in Australia and four giant video walls with more than 80 screens,” he said.
“The food offering is blokey burger bar, schnitzel house.
“Bi-fold doors open on to a terrace, which can be used by smokers.”
Mr Johnston said the top level, called Botanical, was “a step up”.
“It has a large garden wall, skylights, fireplace, cocktail bar, bistro, Robaba grill and a fantastic rooftop terrace with amazing views.”
Mr Johnston said the new facility was “a vertical pub, as opposed to a pub like The Prince”.
“If you put the three floors together, it’s just a big suburban pub precinct,” he said.
“Whatever the demographic, we believe we’ve got it covered.
Mr Johnston said the Botanical would be family-friendly but, unlike The Prince, would not have a children’s room.
“At this venue the idea is you come with your kids, but they sit at the table and have a nice experience with their family, as opposed to running wild through the venue,” he said.
Mr Johnston said the new hotel could be justified because of the enormous population growth in the corridor from Sutherland to Cronulla.
“Everyone who lives here sees the apartment blocks going up all around us,” he said.
”We are really excited about what we are bringing to the area.
“It will set a new standard for technology for sports viewing, and the fitout and finishes will be exceptional but we will still be a suburban pub, with suburban beer on tap, suburban food offerings and suburban pricing.
“We believe we will fill a gap in what people can get around the Caringbah area.
“We have done a lot of work on demographics in the area and we believe we are going to hit the mark.”
Mr Johnston said the builders were due to hand over the building on November 29.
“We are hoping to have it open at the start of December, which is very exciting because, with our last couple of venues, we missed the Christmas rush.”
Mr Johnston said the cost of transforming the Caringbah building was about $12 million – similar to the sum spent on building The Prince.
The same team designed both hotels, he said.
Mr Johnston said Highfield Caringbah linked to the heritage of the area.
Highfield was the original name of Caringbah, named after the family who had the post office, while Ugly Pizza was named after Tom Uglys and the Botanical recalled First Fleet botanist Sir Joseph Banks.