The new-look Owhango Hotel

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 30, 15 January 1985, Page 3

The new-look Owhango Hotel

The public bars of the Owhango Hotel are now fully operational again and the accommodation section will re-open next month — just six months after the building was severely damaged by fire. By

Rosalind

Donald

Pam and Mike Emberton took over the hotel in November 1983 and after moving in with their children Cheree and Kylie, planned to carry out a longterm restoration programme. However, after last year's tragic fir.e — which is thought to have been started by something falling from a fireplace — Mr and Mrs Emberton decided to do all their improvements at once as so much repair work had to be done to the building anyway. The inside of the hotel is now tastefully decorated in mauve, pink, and cream. The lourtge bar, which the Embertons have tried to create as a family bar, has soft comfortable seats and will soon have music when a sound system is installed. The accommodation area, which consists of one double and three single rooms, should be completed by February, when the outside will be painted. "A drive-in wholesale store will hopefully be

completed by 23 February," says Mike. Mike runs the hotel fulltime and Pam says she will be involved in the accommodation part of the hotel, but also hopes to do one night a week in the pub, depending on the children. The Embertons are pleased and proud of their new-look hotel, but glad that the fire did not completely destroy the old part of the building. "Mains water had just been put on in Owhango, it was previously bore water. If we'd still be on that, the whole place would have burnt to the ground," says Pam. The official opening of the hotel will be in February.