Living The Dream Meet Halifax Hotel New Owners

The new owners of Halifax Hotel are loving their new life in the Hinchinbrook Region.

In August 2024 Luke Penning and Joe Mikuletic opened their doors to the Halifax community, and were thrilled when more than 200 people came along to welcome to them.

Between the two of them, Luke has the hospitality experience. He has been in the industry for almost 20 years, starting as a barista, and then worked in nightclubs, RSL, clubs, pubs and hotels.

By comparison, Joe has been selling forklifts for the past 27 years and, deciding to go for a career change has now been working in the hospitality industry for 15 weeks, saying he’s loving it so far.

“We're living the dream,” said Joe.

“When I was 18, drinking at the pub I always wanted to buy a pub and 30 something years later, we have.

“What I like about it is the small town, everybody knows everybody. Everybody looks after each other. Everybody respects each other.

“The community is tight knit and so welcoming as well, once you are here you feel like a local and are treated like a local too.

“The way they have welcomed us has been very humbling.”

Meanwhile, Luke said employing local is very important to them.

“We employ local first,” he explained.

“We have an extra seven positions now and they've all gone to locals.”

Since taking over, Luke and Joe have been busy with renovation works too, giving the place a new paint job and spruiking it up so there is a new light and airy feel that the community say they love.

In the future, the pair hope to add a beer garden extension, outdoor entertainment areas, an external wood fired pizzeria, an outdoor bar, and even a kids playground.

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