Windorah’s Western Star Hotel for sale for $950,000
The smaller and more remote the town, the more important the pub. In Queensland’s far west, Windorah’s Western Star Hotel is a gathering place for locals and a welcome stopover for travellers heading to Birdsville and some of the country’s most isolated outback destinations.
About 1200 kilometres west of Brisbane, in a township of roughly 120 people, the pub serves cattle graziers, workers, caravanners and adventurers bound for the Birdsville Races and Big Red Bash.
Marketed by Scott Williams, director of SGW Hotel Broker, the freehold going concern is on offer for $950,000, combining the property and operating business on a walk-in, walk-out basis, with existing stock included.
For working owners, Williams pitches a home, an income and an unexpected perk: the prospect of a summer holiday.
A home, a business and a summer break
Williams puts the business’s return on investment above 30 per cent, saying buyers prepared to operate it themselves could earn wages alongside that return.
“For return on investment, it’s brilliant,” he says. “I just think it’s the ideal young couple’s starter.
“Go and buy a pub … be able to work it yourself, pay good wages, and still get a 30 per cent return. It doesn’t get much better.”
The summer desert heat shapes the working year.
“It pretty much closes down for December and January because of the heat,” Williams says. “You’re buying 10 months of trade.”
He says that brings “the ability to have holidays over the period of time where everyone else in the world has holidays”, by appointing a caretaker to look after the property.
“Go and have six weeks or eight weeks of holidays,” he says. “That is the selling point, I reckon.”
Western Star Hotel accommodation and expansion potential
Set on a 4047-square-metre site at 15 Albert Street, the property has a floor area of 1000 square metres across the premises.
The Western Star features a timber-and-corrugated-iron-clad public bar, beer garden and outdoor dining area. Next door, the Sandhill Grill operates as a licensed restaurant and cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner depending on the season.
Accommodation includes four motel rooms and four cabins, which Williams describes as “nearly brand new”, alongside a six-bedroom house with wide hallways, and a separate three-bedroom manager’s residence.
Williams says approval is in place for another six cabins and a laundry.
He sees scope to capture more breakfast trade, with the kitchen and dining room being separate from the bar.
“I reckon you could open it from five in the morning and get plenty of trade out there,” he says.
Williams says buyers can underestimate the business by focusing on its remoteness and population without considering passing trade, including oil and gas workers.
On one visit, he saw about 20 caravans preparing to leave the main street. On another, he helped owner Marilyn Simpson serve dinner to 160 people attending a Land Rover gathering at the community hall.
An outback stopover on the road to Birdsville
Birdsville lies about 386 kilometres to the west, with the tiny historic settlement of Betoota along the way.
Giant red sand dunes, birdlife and fishing along Cooper Creek draw caravanners and four-wheel-drive tourists to Windorah itself.
Campers can pitch a tent on the lawn behind the pub for a gold coin donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
It’s this homely welcome that serves the Western Star well, with appreciative guests contributing to a 4.5-star Google rating, alongside positive road-tripping blogger reviews that describe the pub as a highlight of their desert adventures.
“Food and service at the pub were well above what I expected for the location,” one Google review reads.
Generations of history at Windorah’s family pub
Local legend dates the first Western Star to about 1878. Rebuilt after fires, the pub was renovated in 2003, with cabins added in 2019.
Ian and Marilyn Simpson are seeking to semi-retire after about 30 years of ownership, during which they raised four children.
Marilyn’s family connection stretches back to her great-grandfather. The pub passed through both sides of her family before the couple bought it from her uncle.
“It’s been long-term in the family … it’s generational,” she says. “But it will leave the generations this time, which is OK.”
Among her fondest memories is helping establish Windorah’s annual yabby races, where crustaceans race along circular tracks outside the pub ahead of the Birdsville Races.
She has watched the clientele change as the surrounding industries have shifted.
“Going from drovers to motorbikes and helicopters, and properties becoming more gobbled up and more intense … sheep shearers aren’t around like they used to be, but now we have tourism and corporate business,” Marilyn says.
She says backing the town has been part of the job.
“You can only do that out there by having confidence in your community, and the area,” Marilyn says. “I’ll definitely miss the people … the connection with people.”
But the couple believe the pub is ready for fresh energy.
“It needs new people to bring it to another level,” Marilyn says. “We did our hard yards younger, and it’s time for us to make that up … while we’re still able.”
