INVESTORS keen to head away from the city to major regional tourist destinations are fuelling the sale of iconic pubs and hotels across Victoria.
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That is the sentiments from CRE Brokers Australia's Dave Harris who has listed the iconic Daylesford Hotel.
It is one of a handful of western region pubs that are either on the market or have recently been sold including Craig's Royal Hotel and the Miners Tavern.
Mr Harris himself is also in the process of selling pubs in both Ballan and Meredith, as more and more investors look away from the city due to uncertainty about how long restrictions will last.
"We've had quite a few inquiries from Melbourne," Mr Harris said.
"This is due to the size of the venue, it's what we would call a boutique hotel. There are a lot of people in Melbourne, larger groups or owners that are looking for specific regions that are tourist attractive, but close to Melbourne.
"We are finding at everyone is looking to see if they can go out of the city in some way. Daylesford is right on that border to be able to commute in and out of Melbourne."
Mr Harris said the Melbourne bubble had burst and investors were looking outside it.
"Without formally naming them, we've got one group that has a big portfolio and they've enquired about this two to three weeks before stage four restrictions came in," he said.
"Previously they wouldn't have looked at this hotel, but now they can see that this is where people will be going every weekend, rather than stay in their apartment in Melbourne.
"We've even had a Bridge Road brewery interested. They see this as a potential of a hotel to expand into a micro-brewery or an outlet where they can sell.
"Breweries want what is called an apple cart, a nice looking venue to sell their beer out of. They are keen on a boutique venue to grow their brand in the market place."
The Daylesford Hotel sale is listed at $650,000 with a leasehold. The advertisement says: "(Features include) a spacious dining area with a bar, lounge area, public bar area with an open fire place, with direct access to the popular retail wine store."
"The hotel also features a separate private function area with bar and access to the rear beer garden and off street parking.
"Upstairs has seven modern décor style accommodation rooms, plus a one bedroom apartment, dining and kitchenette, perfect for a manager's residence or rented family room."
The Daylesford Hotel was originally built in the early 1850s and was one of the town's first licensed establishments and still remains as one of Daylesford's Landmark buildings.
The present building was rebuilt in 1913 by the Tognini family and today the hotel retains many of its 1900s features.
Mr Harris said expectations going forward were that areas like those surrounding Ballarat, such as Daylesford, the Great Ocean Road and the Mornington Peninsula will be the most sought-after as they could almost guarantee a domestic tourism market, now the international market has disappeared for the time being.
"Some areas are going to be hit hard for business," he said.
"Melbourne will just tread water for quite a while until we have a sense of where the world is at.
"So you're looking at tourist areas. Where is there a good solid tourist destination within an hour or so of the city?
"Even a place like Ballan which has seen enormous residential growth the past 15-18 months, it's on a direct train line to Southern Cross, people are looking for that change."
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