The Glen Hotel named Queensland’s Hotel of the Year

A Brisbane pub run by the same family for the past 60 years has been named Queensland’s Hotel of the Year, but it’s not the only title it picked up.

The Glen Hotel has just been awarded Hotel of the Year.

BRISBANE’S The Glen Hotel has been named Queensland’s Hotel of the Year.

After 60 years of continuous operations, the Fitzgibbons family are “humbled” that The Glen Hotel has taken home the prestigious title in the 2019 QHA Awards for Excellence.

The QHA Awards for Excellence annual gala dinner celebrates outstanding achievements in Queensland’s hotel industry.

Owners Brian and Cathy Fitzgibbons at The Glen Hotel in Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Tara Croser.

Hosted at Brisbane’s Convention and Exhibition Centre this week, with 1340 publicans, politicians, industry leaders in attendance, The Glen Hotel climbed to victory taking home the hotly contested award, and even nabbed ‘Best Casual Dining’. Owner Brian Fitzgibbons said what made the victory even sweeter was hotels for the Hotel of the Year award were hand selected by judges and awarded based on a strict criteria.

The Glen Hotel is an exceptional dining experience on the southside.

Mr Fitzgibbons, thrilled with the win, perfectly summed up his long-running experience as a pioneer of the Queensland hospitality scene saying, “It’s a lot of hard yakka running your own business, but it’s a privilege.

“Seeing happy customers return to the hotel who may have first visited 50 years ago and still remember how it used to be, and revel in how it is now … makes it all worth it,” he said. 

Owner Brian Fitzgibbons at The Glen Hotel in Eight Mile Plains. Picture: Tara Croser.

Since 1863, The Glen Hotel has had a long and colourful history and is among the oldest continuously trading licensed premises in Queensland. The Fitzgibbons uphold a strong ethos to provide “a place for everyone” and the venue has become an unshakeable icon in the Queensland hospitality landscape.

When asked if he plans on slowing down anytime soon, Mr Fitzgibbons, 60, said: “It’s a family legacy. It’s ingrained into my DNA, it’s all I know and is one of my greatest passions.”