Daintree Village’s only ‘watering hole’ closed

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

David Gardiner

Journalist

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The future of the Daintree Village Hotel and General Store is uncertain. Picture: GTrip

Staff and customers of the Daintree Village Hotel and General Store were caught by surprise when they were given just a few days’ notice of its closure.

The familiar timber and iron building in Stewart Street in the heart of the quaint village is the area’s only ‘watering hole’ – and has been the sole venue for evening pub bistro-type meals, and entertainment for some years.

Staff were told of the sudden closure around the same time as the public found out, through an unexpected social media post just one night before it would close on Friday, March 24: “Come join us on our second last night being open until further notice.”

A staff member who preferred to remain unnamed told Newsport staff and customers alike were surprised, saddened and disappointed when they were told the bar and food service would be drastically cut back to just two hours of the afternoons of Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – which started last week.

A later post on the Hotel-General Store’s Facebook page read: “We will be open for mail collection and bottleshop sales from 2.30pm - 4.30pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday. From this Monday 27th of March...”

The staff member said there’s a high possibility the sudden closure of the Hotel was due to both the establishment’s former manager as well as the chef leaving to go to other jobs, with possible difficulties finding replacements.

“On behalf of our team we would like to thankyou for the constant support and amazing times & laughs we have all had.. this place all has a special place in our hearts, we will never forget what the locals have done to help us get this place going from the bottom of our hearts we thank you so much!” staff posted. 

The staff member we spoke to said they were told there would not be any work at the Hotel and Store until further notice.

“All we were really told, we don’t know when it’s going to re-open,” the staff member said. “We were told it could be weeks, it could be months..”

Newsport reached out to the company which owns the Daintree Village Hotel and General Store – Northern Escape – which also owns the nearby Daintree Eco Lodge and Mt Mulligan Lodge, amongst other exclusive getaways, but they had not responded by our deadline.

Australia Post told Newsport they hoped to provide an update on the future hours of the postal agency within a day or two.

 UPDATE: Since this article was published, an Australia Post spokesperson has gotten back to us with the following statement:

“Australia Post can confirm that mail delivery to the Daintree Village and surrounding area is continuing uninterrupted, and there are no plans to change the current agency arrangements," the spokesperson said.

“Many of our Community Postal Agents around Australia operate with reduced hours. This arrangement allows them to maintain postal services for their area while striking a practical balance with other combined businesses or employment.

“Opening hours for the Daintree Village postal agent are currently 2.30pm - 4.30pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday – we’ll keep the community updated on any changes.”

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