Australian Pub - Pubs As Accommodation

Pubs As Accommodation

Accommodation was another vital facet of Australian pub operation, and indeed it is the origin of the pub's "proper" business title – Australian pubs are usually registered for business under the formal name "hotel", and the more upmarket pubs often reversed this, placing the word "Hotel" before the name (e.g. the Hotel Australia).

Many city, suburban and country pubs offered reasonably-priced accommodation, as well as dining facilities for visitors and business people, and this tradition continues, with pubs joining together in an accommodation cooperative that operates under the name "PubStay".

Country-town and rural hotels were of crucial importance in the years before the advent of the motel and modern budget hotel chains. Moreover, licensing laws often required the provision of a minimum level of accommodation, differentiating hotels from bars which themselves came under pressure from de-licensing legislation from the late 1890s onwards. Until the later 20th century, a significant proportion of tourists, commercial travellers, business people and touring performers in Australia regularly relied on pub accommodation. As one former commercial traveller lamented in a recent ABC Radio social history feature, the end of the era of pub accommodation also led to the disintegration of the social networks that centred on rural and regional pubs.

City and suburban pubs were an important accommodation source for country people visiting the cities for major events, such the annual Sydney Royal Easter Show. For single people, pubs also offered an alternative to boarding houses or rental housing, with many pubs renting rooms to long-term tenants who lived and ate at the pub, sometimes over periods of several decades.