A busy suburban pub with multiple revenue streams across food and beverage, accommodation, and gaming machine
operations, has been placed on the market for sale.
The Turf Hotel in the Nelson suburb of Stoke has been serving pints from its high-profile location for more than six
decades – and now derives income from the full gamut of hospitality services, including:
• A traditional Kiwis sports bar whose walls are adorned by an array of sporting images and memorabilia,
surrounded by a multitude of big-screen TVs and pool tables, and serviced by TAB betting systems
• A segregated gaming room sustaining 18 machines
• A modern open plan short-order style restaurant serving favoured gastro pub fare
and
• Modern accommodation.
The hotel occupies a two-storey building on the corner of Songer Street and Main Road – the southern arterial route
running into and out of Nelson. The Turf Hotel’s sports bar is licensed to serve up to 150 guests, while the venue’s
restaurant and garden bar is licensed to serve 70 people inside and an additional 15 patrons outside.
The Turf Hotel business is being marketed for sale by negotiation as a going concern through Bayleys Canterbury. Tourism
and hospitality sales specialists Peter Harris and Kate Mullins said The Turf Hotel was one of the most popular
hospitality establishments in Nelson’s southern precinct – with the venue anchored as a favoured destination among its
local clientele.
“It’s an unpretentious neighbourhood-style location where patrons drop in for a beer or two on the way home from work,
where sports-lovers can head along to watch their favourite sports, somewhere families can pop in for an inexpensive
meal any night of the week, and even as a private function venue where groups of up to 100 people have booked out the
entire site for special events,” Mr Harris said.
“Entertainment at The Turf Hotel ranges from the ‘D-I-Y’ style pool tables, through to the regular hosting of bands on
Saturday nights. The grassed lawn is popular with young children to run around on in summer too.”
The Turf Hotel business leases its Stoke premises – paying annual rental of $225,000 plus GST – and employs 21 staff on
a mix of full-time and part-time contracts. The venue is opens from 8am to 11pm seven days a week.
The hotel’s restaurant floor plate flows out onto a sheltered outdoor area, while the neighbouring sports bar also has a
substantial outdoor seating area partly covered in a wooden decked space and overlooking the appealing lawns and
gardens.
Ms Mullins said the three-and-a-half-star guest accommodation within the property had been completely renovated and
refurbished in 2016, and now featured six guest rooms - all with access to shared kitchenette and dining room amenities
on the upper floor. Room rack rates start at $75 a night, with the venue often booked by long-term stays paying $200 a
week. The rooms have an average occupancy rate of 60 percent.
“The growth in booking nights has had a flow-on effect for The Turf Hotel’s food and beverage division, with guests
dining in and taking advantage of the convenient ‘charge back’ facility – a service typically seen in the sophisticated
four and five-star hotels located in our bigger cities,” Ms Mullins said.
“The Turf Hotel has been owned by its current operators for the past eight years. The past two of those years has seen
both revenues and turnover growing off the back of substantial investment into the premises which has seen the
restaurant facility attracting a strong clientele, while a greater number of guests are now utilising the on-site
accommodation services.”
Commercial-grade cooking equipment in the restaurant kitchen features a gas hob and oven, deep fryers, a stainless-steel
extraction range, walk-in refrigeration unit, multiple stand-alone ‘fridge and freezer units, and a commercial-grade
dish washer.