Historic 98-year-old Denmark Hotel renovations near completion, with overhaul revealing its “heritage fabric”

A historic Great Southern hotel is in the throes of receiving a much-needed face lift, with the new management team stripping back layers of the “totally underutilised” venue to reveal its heritage fabric. Two years shy of its 100th birthday, the Denmark Hotel has undergone renovations to restore the venue to its former “heyday glory” — a plan the new owners Belingbak have had in their sights since they bought it in November 2023 for $3.7 million. Denmark Hotel co-general manager Ryan O’Meara said though he was initially reluctant to join the project, having only seen the hotel in its former mediocre state, he was convinced by the new team’s vision. “I’ve lived in the area for 15 years and in that time (the hotel has) been totally underutilised and not realised its potential,” he said. “You talk to the odd local and they say they remember it in its heyday when it was an institution. “But now, anyone who visits for longer than five minutes can see the pub should be better than it is. “The bar is set very low so hopefully we can jump over it with flying colours when we reopen.” The hotel is undergoing a full overhaul, with changes including a kitchen refurbishment, internal restructuring to the bar and bistro, new floors, restoration of heritage features, repainting, and re-branding the “dire” River Rooms accommodation to become the 24-bed lodge and the bottle shop to boutique wine-focused Denmark Drops. Mr O’Meara said uncovering the different eras of the building throughout the six-month renovation has been fascinating. “We’ve tried to reveal a bit more of the heritage fabric of the building, peeling back all the layers and layers of patchwork over its history,” he said. “It’s great seeing the funny bits and pieces that we’ve exposed, the green brick and old fireplaces — though there’s some 1960s and 70s stuff that looked like it was very patchy at best.” Built in 1926 by Narrogin man Mr Rawlings and Denmark local Mr Partridge, the hotel was led under the ownership of Scottish immigrant Jack Clark, who also owned Edinburgh House. Later it passed into the hands of Vic and Alice Gastev in 1968, who owned — and occasionally ran it with their daughter Tanya — until 2023 when it was bought by investor group Belingbak. Australian basketball legend Luc Longley and celebrity chef Anna Gare are part of the larger hotel ownership but have taken a step back as the faces of the venture due to personal reasons. The hotel has seen many internal and external changes throughout its 98 years, with the modifications made to its original 1920s facade making it ineligible for heritage listing. Alongside fellow co-general manager Andries Mostert and executive chef Ali Osborne, Mr O’Meara hopes to throw open the doors by early December. “We’ve had a bit to do, trying to bring up a near-on 100-year-old building to 2024 compliances, fire safety and things like that,” he said. “But we’re starting to hear a bit of buzz around the town as people see real change. “You walk into the IGA and people ask you a million questions. “We might just open the doors one random Tuesday and keep it under wraps for now and then in summer do a bigger celebration. “Just being able to get a good feed at the pub will be enough to entice most locals in but we hope to blow them out of the water anyway.”