McDonald family to leave The Manly Hotel after 51 years in charge

A family which has run a popular southeast Queensland pub for more than half a century have decided to move on, leaving the venue’s future up in the air.

The future of an iconic Brisbane pub is up in the air with the family who run the venue calling last drinks after more than half a century.

Publican Sandy McDonald confirmed today his family would be leaving The Manly Hotel, which opened its doors in 1955, when their current lease ends with the owners on September 30.

Mr McDonald’s parents – Stewart and Dulcie – took over the stewardship of the hotel in 1970 with the venue, situated on Cambridge Pde, becoming the heartbeat of the Manly Harbour Village ever since.

They then handed it down to their three children in Jenny, Doug and Sandy.

Iconic bayside pub, The Manly Hotel.

And with the family set to celebrate 51 years in charge of the hotel tomorrow, Mr McDonald said it was just time to move on.

“It’s been an incredible journey,” he said.

“It’s obviously played a massive part of the lives of the people in our family, we’ve invested a lot of time and effort into the hotel and in the community through the hotel and we’ve been able to do some absolutely amazing things here.

Manly Hotel publican Sandy McDonald.

“But now it’s just time to focus on some other things.

“It is a bit sad to be leaving, especially when our family has such a long history with The Manly Hotel, we’ll miss it.”

Mr McDonald, who won the Queensland Hotels Association Hotelier of the Year in 2013 and was acknowledged as a life member in 2016, said they started thinking about leaving a year ago with the owners of the property deciding to go in a different direction.

The Manly Hotel in 1958.

However, he said he was confident it would remain a hotel and would be taken to new heights in the years to come.

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Mr McDonald also said his involvement in the bayside community wouldn’t stop on September 30 with his family still running the Manly Marina Cove Hotel and involved in several other local projects, including the Moreton Bay Discovery Centre.

Sandy McDonald from The Manly Hotel.

President of the Manly Harbour Village, David Farley, said the McDonald family had a “phenomenal” impact on the bayside community.

“It’s going to be a sad day when the McDonalds leave, it’s not very common when you get the one publican for more than 50 years,” he said.