Not a Dog’s Breakfast – St. Bernards Hotel

The St Bernards Hotel is, if not one of the oldest properties on the mountain, one of the most fascinating: in no small part thanks to its fluffy mascots. But there’s more to it than just adorable greeters— today we explore the history, including a Q&A with the owner.

by Kyle Hitchmough

If you ever actually make it past the impossibly cute gate guards— a position currently held by Molly and Syrah— then stepping inside the St Bernards Hotel is a fantastic experience. Immediately you’re treated to a straight eyeline across the restaurant area and out onto the balcony, over which one of the most beautiful views on all of Mount Tamborine is visible. “There’s not many places on the mountain you can actually see a view like that,” owner Warren tells me as we sit down to chat. “Most of the views are privately held, the road is on the inside. That’s part of the appeal.”

A property standing since 1881, the hotel has been everything from a simple guest house in its inception by Mr. Robert Muir, to a home for American military officers based at Camp Cable during World War II. The rich history of this historic lodging certainly piques curiosity: luckily, Warren was happy to tell me all about it.

How long have you had the property? How’d you come to own it?

Fifteen years. I’ve lived on the mountain since 1981, and I always knew about it. It was pretty rundown at the time I took it over. Business was dead. It took some work to really breathe life back into it.

What goes into keeping a place like St. Bernard’s running?

A lot of attention to detail. It’s everything from the cleanliness in the morning to the operation of the bar and every item of food. Cleaning outside. Keeping the dogs fresh. People love the dogs.

Obviously, this is a place with a lot of history and heritage behind it. Have you found in any way that you’ve had to modernize some things and balance the old with the new to stay ahead of the game?

No, not really. We have put air conditioning into a few areas, but basically this is as it’s been for decades. I’ve pulled the rooms out upstairs, and we’re opening that up for a new function room. Put in new toilet blocks, though the old ones are still here.

What do you think makes the hotel so unique? I know the dogs are a huge part of the character.

People love the dogs, and the attachment of the dogs to the hotel. Previously we had Leo, but he unfortunately passed: right now, there’s Molly and Syrah over there.  I can think of probably ten names of dogs going back apart from the two that are there now, going back at least eighty years.

What is your opinion on the Tamborine area as a location and a community?

I think it’s a very important part of South-East Queensland. It’s a cooler refuge for people from the Gold Coast and Brisbane, and that’s the way it started. People came up here to get away from the heat in summer. It’s grown a lot since I’ve been here. You used to walk down the main street and you knew everyone, now you walk down the main street and seldom see anyone you know. I think it’s the climate that attracts people mostly, everything you want is nearby at hand. You’re only a hop, skip and a jump away from the Gold Coast, the beaches, the airports.

Do you find that you get a lot of clients of a particular nature? Is it mostly tourists, or?

You get a real mix. On a Sunday, you can get an old ute out there parked next to a top-series Merc or Jag.

What do you enjoy about owning and managing a place like this?

I like the history, I like being able to do something. We brought it back to life. I’ve got plans for the rest of the grounds as we sit on ten acres. There’s a nice creek running through it into a waterfall—There’s not much water around at the moment, though.

Have the droughts in the area affected your business?

No, the floods are the worst. When we got that cyclone a few years ago it killed business for two months. People don’t come up in very wet weather as the road can be dangerous.

You spoke about bringing new life back into this establishment. What went into that?

Mainly just sprucing up. I’ve done a lot of structural repair of things that were falling down. Roofs, floors. We rebuilt the bits that were falling apart using the same original materials, most of which you can’t see. It was mostly physical repair, but there is the business aspect of it too. It takes time for people to get used to the fact that it’s not grubby like it used to be. It used to be a hotel for bikies, but they’ve moved on.

Any interesting stories or standout moments from your time here?

We’ve had a few concerts here— Phil Manning, he’s an old son of the mountain. We have Galapagos Duck, they’re an old 90s blue band here once a year. But every day when people are enjoying themselves is a standout moment. I like to see people sitting out in the afternoons in the shade on the balcony enjoying themselves.

We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au

Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.