Nov 19

Nov 19 Choose your own adventure at Brisbane's newest collective of bars, The Prince Consort.

Fortitude Valley has a new collective of bars led by the heritage refurbishment and renaming of The Prince Consort in Wickham Street. More recently known as The Elephant Arms Hotel, The Prince Consort as it was originally named, is the famed gathering place that has fed, watered, and kept the secrets of all who ventured through since 1888, and now, thanks to new owners Tilley & Wills Hotels, it will once again take its rightful place on Brisbane’s centre stage.

[Cover Photo: Supplied]

Image Supplied. (Claudia Baxter Photography)

The eight-venue collective will be managed by Brisbane-born and highly respected hospitality leader, Jason Hirt, who said it would be a place where guests could choose their own adventure, every day, and every night. “Firstly, the Elephant has left the building. The hotel is reverting to its original heritage name, and introducing some exciting new ones, with the result being an incredible experience for guests, allowing them to choose between a heritage-style classic English pub, a luxe supper club, a Los Cabos-inspired taco and tequila adventure, a music-driven underground edge, a chilled garden bar and more.”

La La Land, 400 Rabbits Cantina, The Garden Bar, The Naughty Corner, The Bowie Rooms, The Yorke Suites and Greaser, eight spaces in the heritage hotel, each a different experience. The result is a new social master quarter in Fortitude Valley. The ground floor parlour at The Prince Consort is a nod to the building's rich history, while the Garden Bar outside is an open-air oasis, brimming with botanicals, washed in a palette of pastels and humming with Queensland vibes and it’s very own stadium screen.

Upstairs via the ornate staircase, La La Land is an eclectic, sumptuous bar with booth seating, VIP private rooms and a crystal chandelier-covered dance floor – think super luxe Supper Club. An antler-suspended hallway leads to the unexpectedly themed Bowie Rooms. Spaces that need to be seen to be understood.

On the top level is The Yorke Suites, a boulevard of spaces for music makers and creatives, and in the cellar and able to survive just about anything, the much-loved Greaser. And in the heart of the hotel is The Naughty Corner – every pub has one, this time it’s official! Menus range from the gastro-pub-inspired offering of The Prince Consort, to super modern tacos starring seasonal ingredients at 400 Rabbits Cantina, to epic pizzas from the wood-fired oven, to shared tapas plates at La La Land.

“We will have 89 beer taps here, pouring everything from contemporary brews to modern crafts and international classics, the wine list will star great Aussie names as well as the young guns taking the industry into new and exciting territory and our cocktail lists are creative, packed with punch and very cool.” Hirt said transforming The Prince Consort back to its former glory, while also creating the texturally rich new spaces throughout the venue, had been challenging, but the utmost respect had been given to its Heritage Listing. We are really excited we have been able to embed 2020 technology into a 132-year-old hotel. La La Land for example, features the very latest livestream technology, enabling events in that space to beam around the world. If one thing COVID-19 has taught us, it’s that we need to have technology available for livestreaming at any time, to anywhere. And we do.”