GEELONG has proven it has a worthy place on the state\u2019s food map, with the Grovedale Hotel crowned regional Victoria\u2019s Hotel of the Year last week.<\/p>\n
The \u201cGrovey\u201d scored three regional titles at the Australian Hotel Association (Victoria) awards for excellence on Tuesday last week, including Hotel of the Year, Best Pub Bar and Best Casual Dining.<\/p>\n
Joel Taylor and his father John have run the hotel for the past 13 years, completing a renovation about five years ago. The pair also head up the Barwon Heads Hotel and Torquay Hotel as part of Taylor Group.<\/p>\n
Mr Taylor said he was surprised to win having attended the ceremony for the last four years without success despite being nominated each time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sort of said to a couple of the guys that if we won one out of the four or five categories we\u2019d been nominated for, I\u2019d be stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was mindful not to get our hopes up too early because they\u2019re so hard to win. They (the staff) have been over the moon \u2013 it was such a good reward for all the hard work that they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy role was to really set up the venue and give them the management tools to help them along the way, but they\u2019ve really taken it to another level in the past 12 months with the standard of service and food to create an award-winning venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us we always feel that we have to be constantly improving because the hospitality industry is so fierce, and if you\u2019re not getting better or moving forward, you\u2019re probably going backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other winners from the Geelong region included MoVida Lorne (Best Pub Restaurant), Murphys Geelong (Best Sports Bar) and the Queenscliff Brewhouse (Best Retail Space).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG has proven it has a worthy place on the state\u2019s food map, with the Grovedale Hotel crowned regional Victoria\u2019s Hotel of the Year last week. The \u201cGrovey\u201d scored three regional titles at the Australian Hotel Association (Victoria) awards for excellence on Tuesday last week, including Hotel of the Year, Best Pub Bar and Best […]<\/p>\n