The Brisbane headquartered McGuires’ Hotels is the largest family owned and operated chain of hotels in Queensland with four generations contributing to its ongoing success.
And such is their commitment to hospitality and the industry overall, three family members have held significant terms of office within the Queensland and Australian hotels associations (QHA and AHA).
The McGuires’ Hotels have 10 freehold pubs in suburban Brisbane and south-east Queensland, plus 18 retail bottle shops, 11 of which are separate to the hotels. Its more recent expansion into hotel accommodation has added long-term value to several of its properties.
Irish patriarch James Thomas McGuire set the scene for the family becoming generational hoteliers when he leased the Kangaroo Point Hotel, now known as the Story Bridge Hotel.
He then moved to leasing the Railway Hotel (recently refurbished as The Chalk Hotel) at Woolloongabba when it was built in 1889. When James died in1949 his widow Nora took over the running of the Railway Hotel, which at one time was credited with having the longest continuous hotel licence in Queensland.
Three of their sons also ventured into the industry and one of them, Richard Kelly McGuire operated the Paddington Tavern as the first of five family owned hotels before he died in1989.
Today, the McGuires’ Hotels chain is under the management of his sons, Jim, Richard, Tom and daughter Regina and with some of their children - cousins Damian and Matthew - geared to carry the name forward.
They are complemented by loyal of ce staff that includes personal assistant of 30 years, Patricia Fenton, and general manager John Jeffs, who has been with the business for 47 years, plus 600 employees.
The McGuires have also remained loyal to their Nexia Brisbane accountants for the last 46 years. Firstly the relationship with Dick Robertson, then Ken and Ann-Maree and later Grant Sawford “who have been most helpful whenever you have sought advice”. Nexia’s estate planning advice and administration have saved the McGuire Family a substantial amount of income tax in recent years and ensured that the ownership of the hotel chain stays intact and in the family. Family tradition is very important to the McGuire’s so dealing with a family orientated business such as Nexia Brisbane and the culture that this brings sits well.
“I left school as a 17-year-old and went to work with Dad at the Paddington Hotel, near Suncorp Stadium,” said Jim, explaining the succession plan that unfolded under his father’s guidance.
“Dad took over the Colmslie Hotel at Morningside in 1969 and I moved across with him, while my brother Richard, who had not nished his dentistry degree, started at the Paddo. Then in 1978 we got the lease of the Newmarket and Dad and I were off again, and my youngest brother Tom, who became a barrister, joined the business by working at the Colmslie.”
At the start of the 1990s it was opportune for the McGuires that the empire of Western Australian entrepreneur Alan Bond was in financial collapse with Bond Corporation selling off its hotels.
They were able to acquire ownership of the Paddington and Colmslie hotels from Bond to add to the huge Calamvale Hotel they had built at Sunnybank, plus their Alexandra Hills Hotel property holding.
“For the past ve years we have moved into the accommodation area as we have found that it would be value-adding to our properties,” Jim said.
“We sold off some of the Calamvale site to a shopping centre and McDonald’s and spent $22 million to build 60 units and with function and wedding reception facilities.
“It opened two years ago, while at the Colmslie we built 50 units over four storeys that opened three years ago and it is doing very well with 80 per cent occupancy. By February, we will have 40 new units at Alexandra Hills.”
The McGuires also have Brisbane pubs, the Logan Village Hotel, the Junction at Annerley, O’Tooles Corinda and Queenslander Marsden, plus the south-eastern RQ’s Tavern at Robina and TugunTavern on the Gold Coast.
All venues serve all-day food, which Jim says is a grazing trend that has become more popular and profitable.
He also recalls the days of entertainment being a major attraction with bands such as Midnight Oil performing in front of 2,000 people, but these days it’s more trios, Irish groups or weekly karaoke nights that appeal to patrons at the various venues.
The McGuire family have also significantly contributed to the hotel industry. Richard Snr. served as treasurer, vice-president and then president of the QHA for 19 years. He also was national president and vice-president of the AHA. Richard Jnr. served as vice-president of the QHA, while Tom has been president of the QHA for 10 years and has served as national president for the past eight years.
Jim McGuire, named after his grandfather, is proud that the family name continues as operators of hotels that service suburban families and visitors to Queensland.
“People often ask me (that when I die) what I would like to come back as and I always say ‘I would like to come back as Jim McGuire.’ Life has been very good to me,” he said.
