Public Hospitality Group has had a big year, to say the least. There was a failed $500-million refinancing attempt, a split with another major group and an exec chef quietly exiting. In September, the future of five of its pubs looked rocky, with voluntary administrators appointed. But today it was announced that Sydney hospitality group Solotel’s taken over the operations of three: Oxford House, The Norfolk and Camelia Grove.

“No one really knew what was going on with Public, right? So I was hopeful there was going to be an opportunity,” Solotel CEO Elliot Solomon tells Broadsheet. “We were lucky that it came our way and we jumped on it … [these three are] great venues, they’re staples of the area. It would’ve been a shame to lose them.”

Solotel is a family-owned local hospo group, now with an eclectic clutch of 30 venues. Together with chef Matt Moran, there are restaurants Aria, Chiswick and North Bondi Fish, plus harbourside fave Opera Bar; as well as packed-out pubs like The Abercrombie, The Clock and The Paddo Inn. The newest three – which all underwent relatively recent renos with Public – fit in “very nicely”.

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In 2022, boutique Paddington hotel Oxford House reopened with fresh rooms and poolside bar and dining. Then in November 2023, record-spinning wine bar Busby’s joined in the street-level space. Chef Toby Wilson moved his fan-favourite taqueria Ricos to Public’s revamped version of The Norfolk in 2023 too, and Alexandria pub Camelia Grove transformed into a trattoria.

The Solotel team has been in the venues for six weeks, gearing up for the summer busy period, and is prioritising the reopening of The Norfolk’s corner bar. “I just feel that if you’re a pub on the corner, you need to have a bar that’s open on the corner,” Solomon says of the space, which was once La Salut.

“Despite the challenges for the venues and teams, there’s some really amazing people that work in the venues that have stuck around. They really care about the venues, so that makes it so much easier for us. They’re great venues. With us there, we’ll get a lot of stability … [we’ll] give the teams the stability and ability to focus on the guests, as opposed to focusing on all the other challenges they had.”

When Broadsheet spoke to Wilson a few months ago, he said he and his team just wanted to “keep doing what we do”. Solomon says he “never” intends to “hold onto things for the short-term”, so the future’s looking good for these beloved venues.

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