Historic Travellers Rest in new hands

At 172 years old, Travellers Rest in Appleby has new owners who want to celebrate its history and fill it with guests.

Robyn and Richard Kereru bought the historic two-storey tavern beside the highway a week after it caught their eye as they drove past it.

The couple had spent the past three-and-a-half years touring New Zealand in a rather large fifth-wheeler RV after the pandemic ended their plans to travel overseas and retire in the Philippines.

Winters were spent in Tasman where they took up the same jobs each year, but they were not planning to settle until they spied Travellers Rest.

Richard had spent 25 years in the hotel business and old hotels always piqued their interest.

“We saw the ‘for sale’ sign and it looked like a hotel and we love hotels, so we were curious,” Robyn says. “We were sort of in awe. It is just stunning; beautiful. The next day we put an offer on it.”

“And I said, you’re fast alright, girlfriend,” Richard adds.

Much of the interior is the original wooden hotel and the bars from its days as a hotel are still intact, albeit without the alcohol.

Even the last blackboard menu from 15 years ago remains on the wall.

In its early days, the hotel had stabling, carriage hire and accommodation for travellers heading to and from Nelson. It became a popular venue for social gatherings, meeting and even coroner’s inquests.

Its days as a hotel ended 15 years ago and it remained empty for several years until its recent owners took it over, renovated it and ran it as accommodation. When they decided it was time to sell, Robyn says they declined offers that would spell the end of the hotel until they found purchasers who would take it into the future.

Now it is Robyn and Richard’s turn at the helm and they plan to use the bottom level as accommodation for groups of up to 12 people.

Fortunately, Richard is a handyman who relishes the prospect of tending their elderly hotel and he likes “big old grunty wood”.

Much of the wooden beams, floors and even stained-glass windows date back to when the hotel was built in 1851.

Now Robyn and Richard want to collect as much of its history as they can to keep its story alive.