A legendary bar, famous for its pre- and post-match night drinks at Sydney Football Stadium or Sydney Cricket Ground, is to close its doors after 110 years.
The Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington was bought by pub and slots baron Bruce Mathieson for more than $13 million in 2022, but has now sold for about half that amount.
There is a very simple reason for the huge drop in value to $6.6 million: the pub has a license for 15 poker machines, but they were not part of the property sale.
As the new owners were determined to close the pub and use the 22 backpacker-style rooms above it as a hostel, there would be no need for slot machines.
The Mathieson family owns a 15 per cent stake in hospitality, drinks and gaming company Endeavour Group and ALH Group, Australia’s largest pub operator with more than 350 venues.
Moving the rights to the 15 poker machines to one of its other locations (or possibly spreading them across several of them) also makes more economic sense than leaving them in Paddington, which is an affluent area with fewer pokie players.
The hotel made headlines in 2020 when it changed its name to The Captain Paddington, which at the time was called a “ridiculous nod to the madness” of cancel culture.
It was named after Captain James Cook, who charted the east coast of Australia in 1770.
The legendary Captain Cook Hotel (pictured), famous for its pre- and post-match night drinks at Sydney Football Stadium or Sydney Cricket Ground, is to close its doors after 110 years.
The hotel (pictured) in Paddington was bought by pub and slots baron Bruce Mathieson for more than $13 million in 2022, but has now sold for less than half that amount.
But then-owner Robby Moroney said in July 2020 that the name change was not an attempt to politically distance itself from the British explorer, but rather a “rebranding” to create a new name that “sounds cooler.”
“We decided to give the place a new face,” he said.
The name changed again to Captain Cook Hotel when the Mathiesons bought it.
The new owners – who have not yet been named – of the impressive four-level Federation building have not indicated whether they will change the name again.
With a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of Sydney and a great location close to the CBD, time will tell if buying a pub without slot machines was a smart move.
The new owners plan to close the pub and use the 22 backpacker-style rooms above it as a hostel (pictured)
