Daniel Drakopoulos is very excited about spending time in Budgewoi.
“It’s where my parents used to come on holiday and it’s where I used to play soccer,” he said.
Daniel is one of four kids who are part of the Drakopoulos family.
Father Bill Drakopoulos is the founder and owner of the hugely-successful Sydney Restaurant Group, the company that owns 15 high-end restaurants in places like Mosman, Vaucluse, Bondi, Balmain, as well as Macquarie and King Street in the CBD.
All four children are involved in running the business, but their latest venture – and their first outside of Sydney – the Budgewoi Hotel, is Daniel and his brother Perry’s baby.
“My brother and I were looking at growing the company outside of Sydney.
“We travelled to Budgewoi because it’s so familiar to us and just fell in love with it all over again.
“It was part of a plan to grow Drak Hotels, another part of Sydney Restaurant Group,” explained Daniel.
Their travels to the north end of the coast to retrace their steps in soccer boots led to them making an offer on the Budgewoi Hotel.
Fast-forward a few months and at the start of this year the brothers purchased the Coast Hotel Budgewoi for $15M from vendors Michael Barlow and Mark and Joanne Stead.
The vendors acquired the Hotel in December 2005 for $6.9M.
Daniel explains how COVID sped up the process of finding the perfect hotel outside of Sydney.
“We could see that there was an exodus out of Sydney and that people were looking for a sea change or tree change.
“Budgewoi, like the whole top end of the Central Coast, became a hot destination for people who could work for home and wanted a more relaxed lifestyle.
“We knew we wanted to be part of that.
“Budgewoi was high on our list because of our connections to the place and we were incredibly lucky that the hotel came up for sale,” he said.
Officially known as the Coast Hotel Budgewoi, the building sits with views over the Creek and Budgewoi Lake.
It has been a firm favourite with locals and offers dining and entertainment, something the brothers are keen to continue.
Upstairs the restaurant is currently leased by The Olive Tree, which, according to Daniel, will remain for the foreseeable future.
The Olive Tree is in the process of opening a second restaurant in the building that previously housed The Anchor in Summerland Point.
“We pick up the keys to the Hotel on February 21 [and] we can’t wait,” he said.
“For the first few months, we’ll bed ourselves in and get to know the staff and the locals.
“Once we’re familiar with everything, we’ll set to work on injecting some new life into the downstairs pub, introduce our modern Australian menus, and bring in some entertainment for everyone, including families.”
On the cards too is a renovation.
“We haven’t put in a firm date yet,” said Daniel, “but once it’s done, we’ll set about organising a grand re-opening.”
Nicola Riches