New licensees share vision for Premier Hotel, plan to open historic doors by end of February

New Premier Hotel publican Andrew Rodgers has shared his bold vision for a lavish whisky and cocktail bar on the second floor of the renovated 130-year-old building. Mr Rodgers and his partner Danae Witherow officially signed the paperwork last Thursday as the new licensees of the Premier Hotel. The Premier Hotel was gutted by fire in 2016 in an infamous arson scam that landed five men in jail. However, after a $4 million redevelopment, the search for a new licensee that started in late 2020 is now over. The new publicans want to return ”The Prem” to its glory days and plan to transform the second floor into a cocktail and whisky bar to be known as Bar 1891 — a nod to when the venue was built. A 6m upstairs bar flows out on to a wraparound balcony more than 30m long overlooking York Street and Princess Royal Harbour. While the traditional downstairs bar area and restaurant will be the “main engine” of the venue, Mr Rodgers said the upstairs area would lend a finer touch to the Premier Hotel experience. “Downstairs is going to be the main bar, where we have bands and theme nights,” Mr Rodgers said. “Upstairs is going to be known as Bar 1891 and will be a whisky and cocktail bar, with a slower atmosphere. “It will be somewhere nice, if you want to go somewhere nice.” The extensive refurbishment was completed in mid-2021 and Rodgers is hoping to open the doors by the end of February next year. “It has been a long process but we finally got there,” he said. “Now it’s just really about fit-out, recruiting some new staff and getting her going — get the doors open and bring the old girl back to life again. “We’ve allowed ourselves eight weeks to get it up and running but it won’t be open until we are happy and it’s right.” The couple, former owners of the Bremer Bay General Store, were planning to move back to Europe before COVID-19 hit. Mr Rodgers said he felt that the opportunity to run the revamped Premier Hotel was “meant to be”. “This opportunity came and I had a relationship with Barry (Panizza) with previous things and now we’ve taken this on,” Mr Rodgers said. “It’s just not a bar, it’s got a personality of its own. “It’s good for the town, it’s not like this is ours, this belongs to Albany.” Hailing from Ireland, Mr Rodgers said they were keen to bring out the rich history of the pub situated on the city’s main strip. “In Ireland, you’re either born in a bar or conceived in one,” he said. “It’s not going to be an Irish bar but it will have a bit of Irish hospitality sprinkled on it. “We want to embrace the history of Albany because there is so much history in the town especially with The Prem itself. “We are looking forward to seeing everyone coming here and having fun.” Co-owner Mr Panizza, one of nine members in a long-standing buyers’ syndicate, said securing the Rodgers as licensees was a great result. “Myself and the partners are absolutely ecstatic to have a tenant to the calibre of Andy and Denae to take our property through the next part of its journey,” Mr Panizza said. “Due to the unfortunate circumstances it has been a long journey to where we are today. “It’s been a long time without income, long time in development, but what we’ve ended up with is a very, very nice property and we look forward to them opening the doors.”