AHA Awards lists Royal Hotel Spring Ridge as finalist

The hotel is a finalist in the Australia Hotels Association (AHA) Awards for the second year running, with the winner to be announced on November 20 in Sydney. 

The Royal Hotel was rebuilt in 1939 following a fire and has been in the hands of the Archer family since 2015. Nicole Archer said it was “pretty exciting” to make the finalists cut again.

“It says more about the community than us as a pub. Anyone who has been here would understand what the community is like,” Ms Archer said,

“If we don’t get a win this year, it’s not the end of the world – we love the pub and we love the town.

“It would just be a big hats-off to the community if we come away with something this year.”

Ms Archer said the pub was a popular spot for locals to gather.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you’re older or younger or if you come into the bar and there’s no one here or 50 people here, you will feel welcome,” she said.

“I’m not really sure what it is about Spring Ridge but you always feel welcome. For some of the younger guys it’s like an extension of their living room. They knock off work and come in.”

Ms Archer said local pubs played an important role in bringing people together.

“With the drought and things like that, it is really important at the moment that there is somewhere the workers and farmers can come in and forget about it for a little while,” she said.

“We’ve definitely noticed it’s really important.”