Reimagining of St Kilda’s The Prince Hotel proves Melbourne is back with a bang

Caravan king Gerry Ryan’s son Andy Ryan has spared no expense for a party 10 years in the making at St Kilda’s The Prince Hotel.

Gerry Ryan and son Andy Ryan. Picture: Supplied

When Gerry Ryan got the invitation to his son’s latest venture, the reimagining of St Kilda’s The Prince Hotel, the caravan king inquired as to how many guests were coming to dinner.

“About seven, maybe 800,” was Andy Ryan’s reply.

The Jayco founder is used to doing it big, he had just disembarked from Lindsay Fox’s lavish luxury cruise 85th birthday celebrations from New York to Montreal after all.

Later sitting at The Prince with his classy wife Val, and the 800-odd other dinner guests, he told Page 13 how immensely proud he was of his son, who like his upmarket trucker mate Fox, sure knows how to throw a party.

The 800-odd guests were treated to a night of dinner and decadence. Fountains of champagne poured into a tower of 250 champagne coupes, believed to have been shaped around Marie Antoinette’s left breast.

A burlesque dancer twirled in just her tattoos and a diamante-encrusted bra. The night might have been a scene from the Palace of Versailles. Guests ate from a croquembouche mountain and a groaning charcuterie board.

Fountains of champagne at The Prince Hotel. Picture: Supplied

A burlesque dancer performed at the launch party. Picture: Supplied

It was a night of dinner and decadence. Picture: Supplied

Men in high heels and red lips danced with women in black tulle and alert nipples. Yes, The Prince has finally found its groove again.

If Gerry Ryan is the caravan king, son Andy is the prince. Ryan says he always had a mind for marketing and a taste for hospitality.

He is part of Melbourne’s next generation of money makers, with a discerning eye on retaining the magic and architecture of such venues as The Prince, while finessing them into a profitable business.

The young prince says he has put into practice the many lessons he has learnt from his father.

“The big one is always having that sense of urgency, getting straight onto it even if it is not completely perfect,” Ryan tells Page 13.

“Sometimes when I’m chatting to someone I feel that he is coming out of me, so I must have listened to something, or he’s just repeatedly said it to me enough times that it’s ingrained in my subconscious,” he laughs. “But for him it’s always about having the right people in place and making sure they’ve got the right resources and training to go and make it happen.”

Kate Ceberano. Picture: Supplied

Kate Langbroek. Picture: Supplied

Decadent desserts on offer. Picture: Supplied

Inside The Prince Hotel in St Kilda. Picture: Supplied

For Ryan, Thursday’s party was 10 years in the making.

The venue has a long, storied and eclectic history. Sting has strolled through the corridors, The Rolling Stones and INXS have rocked out in the bandroom. In 1977, The Prince hosted one of Melbourne’s first drag shows, Pokeys’ nightclub. The floor show was world class. A few of the old drag queens looked like they were still rocking out on the dancefloor on Thursday.

In 2007, John and his wife Lisa Van Haandel assumed control, before selling The Prince to the Ryan family four years later.

Ryan likens St Kilda’s Fitzroy St to Luna Park’s scenic railway ride, “lots of ups and downs” and believes the newly reimagined and renovated Prince Hotel will help reinvigorate the area and bring people back.

He remembers the words of another father, nightclub baron Brian Goldsmith, his former father-in-law from a previous marriage.

“He always said it’s the people who are the decor.”

Thursday night proved just that, with St Kilda celebrities such as Kate Langbroek and songstress Kate Ceberano celebrating until the wee hours. Andy’s glamorous wife Ruby was the hostess with the mostess, it was a party proving Melbourne is back with a bang.

The huge refurbish and renovation has been done in stages and years in the making, the stained carpet ripped up, the public bar replaced with a gastropub. The Prince is back, baby, and prince Ryan is smiling, just as he should be.