Queenscliff Hotel sold to local family

The striking 1887 Queen Anne-style Queenscliff Hotel building has been sold to a local family.

Abercromby’s sold the property on a walk-in, walk-out basis with expectations at $3.5 million plus. The local News Ltd paper, The Geelong Advertiser, reported it sold for close to $3.5 million.

The hotel is still taking guests, but the restaurant served its last meals on Christmas Day, following the death of owner Johann Schuetz.

John Schuetz and his wife, Theresa bought the property at 16 Gellibrand Street in 2002. It had been made famous again by the late Mietta O’Donnell after she re-opened the dining room in the late 1970s.

The 1887 built Queenscliff Hotel on the western tip of Port Phillip bay was designed by Melbourne architects Reed, Henderson & Smart, the same architects responsible for the State Library of Victoria, Collins Street Baptist Church, Melbourne Trades Hall and a number of Melbourne university buildings.

It was built by NW Frogley in the English Queen Anne style for Martha Nugent and Joseph Goslin, wealthy local citizens at the time.