Both approaching 80 years of age, Marion and Kasey Hodzic have called time on their 38-year tenure as owners of the historic Royal Hotel in Cooma.
The pair, who have been married for 52 years, sold the regional NSW property in June to a group of investors based near Queanbeyan for $1,065,000.
The three poker machine licences sold in a separate transaction, for about $2 million.
The Royal Hotel, on the corner of Sharp and Lambie streets, dates back to 1858, less than 20 years after settlement in Cooma began.
One of the oldest buildings in the town, the two-storey pub and its outbuildings were listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate in 1978. They are today listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.
How the Hodzics became pub owners
Marion, a fourth-generation "Cooma girl", met Kasim Hodzic, or Kasey as he's known, when he was working in the town.
An immigrant from Bihac in the former Yugoslavia, Kasey got a job working on the Snowy Hydro.
"I always say he didn't bring a suitcase, he brought a brain with him," Marion said.
Later the pair moved to Adelaide, where Kasey worked for the state government renovating historic buildings.
In 1985 they got a call from Marion's father in Cooma, who told them the Royal Hotel was for sale.
"It was ideal, something for [Kasey] to renovate. He went up and he bought it," she said.
Prior to the Hodzics taking it over, the Royal Hotel was owned by another woman for 40 years, Marion said.
After giving the pub a refresh, the couple mostly leased it out for the next 38 years.
At one point, in about the early 2000s, the Hodzics' daughter Tina and her husband John leased the pub and operated it.
"You can bump into people in town and they'll always remember John and Tina," Marion said.
"They have a lot of respect for them and the way they ran the hotel. I'm very proud of her."
A long list of people have held the lease at the Royal Hotel in the last four decades, including the town mayor at one point, Marion said.
'We met a lot of interesting people'
Now living in Adelaide, Marion and Kasey happily recall memories of their time owning the pub over the phone. Marion laughs at all the stories she'd long forgotten that were now coming to mind.
She recalls the time a "very famous person" called into the pub one Sunday afternoon.
Former Australian rugby union player Nick Farr-Jones spent the afternoon there after his car broke down.
Another time, large groups of German tourists started turning up to the pub seemingly out of nowhere.
"I said, 'How did they know where we are'? And one lady showed me the book," Marion said.
The hotel had been listed in a Lonely Planet travel guide.
The Royal Hotel also made a cameo in the Australian movie The Well, which includes scenes filmed at the property in the 1990s.
"We met a lot of interesting people, I tell you," Marion said.
The tough decision to sell
Marion said it was an easy decision for her to sell the hotel, but it took her a few years to talk Kasey into letting it go.
"I'm 79. My husband just turned 78. I have done a lot of work there and I can't do it anymore. You know, the book work and ordering and cleaning," she said.
"The times have changed in the hotels."
The right time came when the most recent lessee wanted to end their lease early.
The hotel was closed for nine months while Marion and Kasey looked for a buyer.
"The hotel has always been operated and it was so sad to see it close but that's the only way we could do it, was to sell the property as it is and not look for another tenant," Marion said.
Marion said they were "very happy" now the sale had been finalised.
What the future holds for the Royal Hotel
A company named Australian Hotel Pty Ltd are the new owners of the Royal Hotel, CoreLogic records show.
An ASIC document lists Mahesh Kumar as the director and Kamlesh Kodwani as the alternate director. Both are based around the Queanbeyan region.
Mr Kodwani did not respond when contacted by The Canberra Times.
It appears the Royal Hotel is currently closed, as the hotel's phone line, website and Google listing were inactive at the time of publishing.
Australian Hotel Pty Ltd also purchased the Australian Hotel in Cooma, at 137 Sharp Street, in 2021.
It is understood the Australian Hotel is no longer operating as a pub.
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