21 October 2025

Doors finally open at renovated Bayview Hotel

| By Claire Sams
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The outside of the Bayview Hotel, as of October 2025

The future of the Bayview Hotel is no longer a mystery. In fact, a reopening is expected very soon. Photo: Simon Newman Facebook.

It’s been a long wait between drinks, but the owners of a popular South Coast pub have confirmed the doors are back open at the Bayview Hotel.

The historic Bayview Hotel is Batemans Bay’s only pub and had built a loyal following, but after the longtime owners decided not to renew their lease, it sat closed for months as rumours swirled around what was happening.

Emma and Mike Dawn, who describe themselves as the venue’s new co-owners, said they were excited to feature in its next chapter.

Mike said it took about two years of planning and negotiations, from start to finish.

“It was a natural progression for us … It was a good time to do this,” he said.

“The opportunity came up a couple of years ago. We came down here to have a look, and thought it was perfect.”

The Dawn family already own multiple Canberra venues, such as the Kingston Hotel (called ‘the Kingo’ by those in the know) and Civic Pub.

The Bayview had a soft opening last week, and officially opened on Monday (20 October).

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Before its closure, the Bayview Hotel featured a drinks bar, separate sports bar, outdoor beer garden, VIP lounge, fenced kids play area, a billiards table and a large screen.

Patrons could relax with pub-style food and enjoy trivia nights, pool competitions and other events.

Emma said life at the reopened Bayview would be (mostly) the same – but there would be some changes, with the venue having had a facelift during its long closure.

She said while the floor plan hadn’t changed, the pub had a complete refit and was painted inside and out.

“It’s a beautiful, heritage-listed building. But the inside was really tired and needed a good makeover,” she said.

They are not planning on offering accommodation.

A fully stocked bar

Tradies have been hard at work to re-fit the Bayview Hotel. Photo: Mike Dawn.

A beer garden is under construction.

“That’ll have a bar and pizza kitchen in it, as well,” Emma said.

“That’s really exciting, and that’ll probably be [ready] around Christmastime.”

She said they planned to open seven days a week.

“We’re going to do food service from 11:30 am ’till 9 pm, and the pub is going to be open from 10 am until midnight.”

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Mike said locals could “absolutely” feel confident they were not looking to transform their Bayview into a replica of their Canberra venues.

“It’s going to be a local pub for local people, run by local people,” he said.

“That’s the best way to do it, and we just have to focus on that now and make sure we get it right.”

He also said the Dawn family were thinking of their tenure as the latest step in the hotel’s story.

“You never really own a pub – you’re more like the custodian of a pub for a period of time,” he said.

“Pubs are such cornerstones of the community … When they’re run well, they’re wonderful places and local people can feel like it’s their home outside of home.”

The Bayview Hotel is located at 20 Orient Street, Batemans Bay.

Original Article published by Claire Sams on About Regional.

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