Local pubs punch above their weight among heavy hitters in hotel awards

The Paragon Hotel, The Woolpack Hotel and the Oriental Hotel are named in the list of nominations for top venue with Mudgee the only town with more than one venue nominated, taking up three spots among the 17 nominated hotels.

The local spots are up against fierce competition from the likes of the Beachcomber Hotel and Resort in Toukley, The Camden Valley Inn, The Courthouse Hotel in Tamworth, Hotel Gosford and The Settlers Inn Hotel, Port Macquarie.

The aforementioned hotels also show up in other categories like 'best steak', 'best traditional accommodation' and 'best casual dining'. The Prince of Wales Hotel in Gulgong also nabbed a number of nominations. See the full list of nominations here.

Rowena Ellis from the Prince of Wales Hotel in Gulgong said she's excited to represent the town at the awards.

"It feels good. I can't wait to can't wait to head down there and bring home the trophy," she said.

"We're always told here that when people come in that it's your traditional sort of Aussie pub that you don't see everywhere. It's got heaps of heaps of character it's got your quirky little bits and pieces that are hanging all over the walls, and your and your locals that people like to come in and have a bit of a chinwag to, that kind of thing. You don't see a lot of a lot of pubs around anymore like that."

Prolific Mudgee publican Des Kennedy, whose hotels are among those up for the top pub award said the nominations are a testament to the hard-working staff.

"It's a great tribute to the staff, not me. The bar staff, the kitchen staff, even the cleaners that keep the place clean, the staff that serve everybody," he said.

"We did pretty well this year. It's a big event, there's a bit of glory in it. The staff, they're all pumped, it's their award not bloody mine."

The independently judged awards will be held on Monday, 24 October 2022 at The Cutaway, Barangaroo.

AHA NSW CEO John Whelan said via a press release that it was great to see a record number of finalists as an industry hard hit by COVID comes together to celebrate once more.

"The Awards for Excellence is the pinnacle of our events calendar and celebrates the hard work and achievements of those in our industry," Mr Whelan said.

"It's something we have not been able to do since 2019, so there has never been a better time to come together and recognise the resilience and innovation of our incredible industry."

"This stand-out list of finalists is proof that despite the adversity and impacts of COVID-19 our pubs are still the best in the world."