Bowen Original North Australian Motel closes down

The pub for an iconic North Queensland motel — said to be the oldest motel in the state — is shutting its doors after 162 years, fresh from a makeover.

A landmark North Queensland motel which is said to be the oldest motel in the state has announced it would close down.

The Bowen Original North Australian Motel had recently been renovated before its reopening three years ago, when the shock announcement came for the local community this week in a post on Facebook.

“We wish to notify all patrons that the Original North Australian is now closed until further notice. The motel will remain open.”

The motel is owned by Bowen residents Glenn and Cindy Merrick, under the holder name C.L Merrick & G.S Merrick, who had registered the motel in July 2020.

The Original North Australian Motel, which was established in 1862, has announced it would close down. Picture: North Australian Motel

The family also owns Bowen based construction company Glenn Merrick Construction.

The Merricks had invested in renovating the hotel in 2021, before reopening it as a new space that offered a more modern ambience to the restaurant on July 1 2021.

The Bowen Original North Australian Motel has been renovated before its reopening in July 2021. Picture: Facebook

The motel is a longstanding landmark in North Queensland, having been first licenced in 1862.

Before the Merrick family renovated the venue, it was used as a “little cafe”, as is mentioned in an advertising video made for the restaurant that was published in October 2023.

The Original North Australian Motel, circa 1900. The lady with the apron on is Elizabeth Alice Mackenzie, who owned the hotel until 1943. Picture: North Australien Motel

Archives on Trove show that the motel had initially been owned by the McKenzie family, with several articles published in the Denison Times mentioning them, from 1972 and the first reference to the family as the motel’s owners, up until 1943, when the obituary of Elizabeth Alice Mackenzie, wife of Alexander Mackenzie had been published and remembered her as the owner of the hotel.

We have reached out to the Merrick family but they have declined to comment.

We have also reached out to several pubs in Bowen who have declined to comment.