A landmark Ballarat hotel has scooped an award for its accommodation.
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The Provincial Hotel in Lydiard Street won the "boutique style accommodation of the year" category in the Tourism Accommodation Awards (TAA) for Victoria last Thursday night.
The hotel re-opened in late last year along with its Lola restaurant after a refurbishment.
The hotel building dates from 1909 and is listed by the National Trust.
Just five years ago, representatives of the Trust lamented the state of the building, which was described as Ballarat's glorious eyesore.
The building had not been used since 2007 and had fallen into disrepair.
In 2015, the hotel was reopened after extensive work, following its purchase in 2014 by the developer Darren Fraser.
PETstock purchased the building three years ago, and moved around 100 of its employees into the adjacent building, with the hotel and restaurant still functioning next door.
Last year the leasehold for the hotel was acquired by local businessman Simon Coghlan and his wife Gorgi, who partnered with hospitality expert Drew Harry to aim for the boutique hotel market.
With its location near the station, the hotel is positioned to reap the benefits from the Ballarat Station Precinct work, as well as the footfall of 1,000 public servants to be based at the new GovHub on the Civic Hall site.
The award for the Provincial Hotel was notable for being one of very few regional venues recognised.
Of the 29 TAA awards for hotels, hotel restaurants and workers, the vast majority were given to Melbourne-based businesses.
Apart from the regional accommodation category - which was won by the Wangaratta Gateway hotel - there was just one other place outside of the state's main city recognised with Wickens at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld winning the gong for best regional hotel restaurant.
Gorgi Coghlan said she was "incredibly proud" of the team at the hotel for winning, while Simon Coghlan said he was looking forward to taking part in the national awards later this year.
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