Blue Mountains Guesthouse & Restaurant Acquire New Owners & Gets Facelift 

Welshe take over the Glenella Guesthouse & Restaurant further raising the profile and offering outstanding dining...

Gareth and Kate moved to Australia from Wales on 3 August 2006 with the intention of buying a campervan and travelling around the whole of Australia in 12 months. After only 3 months into their journey, Gareth was offered a job in Sydney. Once the couple got settled into the Australian way of life, they decided that Australia was to be their home for good.

After a few glasses of wine one evening, Gareth jokingly mentioned that if they were to get married in Australia, they would have to buy a hotel to fit all their friends and family! After that statement, Kate and Gareth fell upon Glenella for sale on the Internet and fell in love with the building and Blackheath on their first trip to the town.

The rest, as we say, is history!

Grand opening of Glenella Restaurant…

After purchasing Glenella Guesthouse on 28 April 2008, Gareth and Kate moved into the property with the sole intention of getting the restaurant and guesthouse back to its former glory.

Due to the size of the property and the amount of work needed to be done, they didn’t get much sleep for the first few months! The first rooms to receive a makeover were the lounge and restaurant. Old furniture needed to be lovingly repaired and some pieces found new homes with their neighbours’ in a furniture sale clear-out! A brand new chesterfield sofa was ordered, but not just your ordinary Chesterfield Sofa, it's the worlds longest Chesterfield sofa! The tired carpet was ripped up to expose beautiful pine floorboards. Professionals were called in to assist with the polishing of the floor.

As the property has been extended and added onto over the 100 years since it was first built, the floorboards alter in colour and size which beautifully shows the evolution of Glenella from a family home to a guesthouse and then to include a fine dining restaurant. 

There were a few issues with the roof: there were holes in it! It took a few weeks of wet floors to locate the gaps and to ensure that they were properly sealed.

Opening the restaurant... 

Tthe restaurant doors opened on 26 June 2008 and  numerous local businesses, tradesmen who assisted with the renovations and friends were invited to sample the food in return for some valuable feedback on the evening. The Chef (David Smith), wait staff and barman all received valuable pointers in how to improve the service, also receiving congratulations for areas that were exceptional.

To add another dimension to the restaurant, art is being displayed in the restaurant courtesy of Hat Hill gallery  and is available for sale. Visit our Gallery for photos of past and current art work.

Opening the guesthouse rooms...

Due to Gareth and Kate being the main painters, decorators and renovators for the rooms, not all seven were done in unison. Carpets were scrubbed, curtains were dry cleaned, bedding was replaced, furniture was polished and walls were painted! It was a manic 12 hour-a-day marathon getting everything perfect for our guests.

To ensure that every room was suitable to sleep in, we hosted a party for all our friends. 30 people turned up on a cool May evening and ate, drank, danced and even sang into the wee hours of the morning. All rooms, plus sofas and floors were slept on and everyone agreed that the guesthouse was fit to open its doors!

Glenella Guesthouse & Restaurant is your best Blue Mountains accommodation choice with luxury guest rooms and quality touches that are ideal for those Blue Mountains romantic getaways or weekend escapes. Located at the summit of the Blue Mountains, Glenella also offers guests, and all visitors to our remarkable region, one of the leading Blue Mountains restaurants with exceptional dining, quality Australian cuisine and warm and friendly service. Close to all the Blue Mountains attractions and things to do, Glenella is also perfect for your Blue Mountains wedding reception venue and is one of the best Blue Mountains venues for corporate events, conference or gala dinners. Check out our Blue Mountains hotel and restaurant packages and deals and then Contact Us today.