The 91-year-old Pacific Hotel is undergoing multi-million-dollar stabilisation works designed to future proof the iconic Yamba pub that was lauded as being ‘the most perfectly appointed place of all seaside resorts north of Sydney” when it opened in 1934.

The art deco hotel was constructed by Grafton hotelier Bill Zeitsch at a cost of £10,000.

In 1990, the Pacific Hotel was purchased by current owners Jack and Lindy McIntosh, Tom and Catherine Mooney, and James and Meera Dods.

Mr McIntosh told the CV Independent when the Pacific Hotel first opened it was a black-tie dinner venue.

“In those days people would come by train to Grafton and the Quinns buses used to bring them down to Yamba,” he said.

Despite rumours, Mr McInstosh said the hotel had never fallen down the cliff into the ocean.

“In 1950, following a cyclone, there was a slip in the hill, and in those days, there was no water reticulation in Yamba, so they had their water tanks built underneath the pub,” he said.

“During the cyclone and the rain, in the northeastern corner the sand started to slip away, and the water tanks were things that slipped, and the northeastern corner of the hotel fell off.

“It never went into the ocean.”

The hotel’s foundations and drainage system were then rebuilt to overcome the problem of water seepage.

Following the Thredbo disaster in 1997, Mr McIntosh said the NSW Government asked all Council’s, particularly coastal Councils, to identify any known slip areas.

“In Maclean Shire back in 1998 they were allocated around $87,000 for Jeffrey and Katauskas a geotechnical engineering company for the whole of Maclean Shire,” he said.

“Geotech engineers don’t work for $87,000.”

Mr McIntosh said the information provided to Council was anecdotal information from the newspapers of the day and identified there was a slip area at the hotel.

“In the end when the report was written it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on because there wasn’t anything technically, or scientifically done,” he said.

“In the same report they made the mention of after eight inches of rain in a week, the area of the hotel and the properties along next to the hotel go into orange alert, and it was recommended the properties be evacuated.

“It went into red alert after 12 inches of rain in a week, and once again there’s a recommendation from Council to evacuate, so whenever that happens, all of the properties along here get these notices.”

But the hotel hadn’t moved.

“We had all of these sensors with coaxial cables and stuff erected in the pub to find out if there was any movement,” Mr McIntosh said.

“There was absolutely no movement detected through periods of rain or anything like that.”

The owners had bigger plans to redevelop the hotel than the work they are currently doing.

“In 2019 we had full redevelopment of the pub down the bottom approved by Council, which had taken years,” he said.

“That would have been a whole function room, it would have been one of the nicest ones on the coast.

“It would seat 180 people overlooking the beach and you could walk out the back…it was going to be beautiful.

“Stage two was to knock down the northern end where the current accommodation is, put new units in there and underground parking with lifts.

“At that stage when it was approved, it looked as though the whole redevelopment and stabilising of the hill would be around $8 million.

“And we said we would go ahead with that.” But then the global pandemic struck.

“Subsequently after Covid and everything, prices had gone up.

“To do the full redevelopment which we were planning would now cost $18 million.”

The owners elected to only do the stabilisation works at this stage.

“Because there’s an encumbrance on the title, until the stabilisation works are carried out, as soon as you go to sell it, they will say take so many million off the price,” Mr Mcintosh said.

“We bit the bullet and said let’s do the stabilisation works, and that’s all we are doing now.

“As soon as we started that work, the DA was activated so all the approval that we have got for the rest of the redevelopment will always be there now.

“That’s an asset in itself.”

Mr McIntosh said they were reluctant to commit to spending $18 million on the full redevelopment.

“There are three partners in the hotel, we’re all getting older and I wasn’t putting myself into $18 million of debt,” he said.

“But by doing this we get rid of that encumbrance, but it doesn’t create one cent of income.”

Despite the magnificent aspirations for the downstairs function room, Mr McIntosh said they won’t be proceeding.

“We won’t be doing it, but it’s there for whoever wants to buy the pub, and because we’re doing the massive amount of stabilisation works the DA has been activated,” he said.

Bennett Constructions have been awarded the contract for the works, and they have engaged contractors including Pipe Construction Australia.

“The work won’t be finished until April next year,” Mr McInstosh said.

The Pacific Hotel project includes structural reinforcement and a full façade replacement to enhance stability, safety, and aesthetics, Bennett Constructions stated.

“Work will focus on strengthening load-bearing elements, upgrading wind and seismic resistance, and installing a modern, energy-efficient façade,” Bennett Constructions stated.

To undertake the work, a specialised road had to be built to access the back of the hotel, which is only temporary.

“We have to pull that out, that’s on Crown Land and we have a lease for it while we are doing the work,” Mr McInstosh said.

“It was the only way you could access the back of the hotel.

“It cost a fortune, because to get all of the heavy equipment down there it needs to be a solid road, it’s got piles all around the edge of the road to stabilise it.”

In the past three years, the owners have invested a considerable amount of money upgrading all the hotel’s accommodation, into luxury rooms.

With a treasure trove of Australian surfing history adorning the walls overlooking Main Beach where Osric Notely photographed Tommy Walker surfing and doing a headstand on his board in 1911, The Pacific Hotel is one of the most iconic pubs in Australia and is renowned for its location.

The Hotel continues to provide entertainment four days a week, all year round, with more regular acts during holiday periods.

Mr McIntosh said they currently aren’t looking to sell the hotel, but they would look into reasonable offers.

“We get offers all of the time for it, because it is an iconic hotel,” he said.

“We’re not really interested, but if somebody came along with something ridiculous, we would consider it.”

The Hotel also owns the drive through bottle shop on Yamba Street, and three shops next to the Post Office with residents upstairs, opposite the bottle shop.

This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 19 November 2025.