One Year at The Criterion Hotel Westport

ELOISE MARTYN

The day I called to interview Darren it was extremely noisy, I asked if it was a good time to chat … “Not really “he replied, “I’ll call tomorrow” I said, “Might be best” He said “Its cup day” and he hung up.

Today when I called the place was much quieter. ‘How was cup day?” I asked, “Steady” Darren replied. “Did people dress up?” I enquired, “Nope, we had a barbie in the beer garden, it was a good day enjoyed by all” ……. On to the story….

The boy who grew up in hotel now owns his own hotel! Darren Storer grew up in the Karamea Village Hotel. He fondly remembers enjoying a bag of chips and a can of coke, on a wet day, while the old regulars taught him how to play pool. Now days the Karamea Village Hotel is still owned by his mother and in recent years his two sisters have taken on the enjoyable role of providing tourists and locals with good food and accommodation. Both his siters said in their younger days said they would never work in a hotel!

Darren left the Coast after his college years and headed overseas for 8 years to New Caledonia and various areas of Australia building bridges and wharfs. He then moved back to Christchurch and continued in the same line of work. 10 years ago, he moved back to the Westcoast and spent his time building sheds as well as conducting property maintenance.

A successful hobby of Darren’s is brewing his own beer which he has been doing for few years now. He has a passion for making a decent drop and likes to share it with his family and friends, who says he’s on to a good thing! Darren had been hoping, for some time, to find a suitable premises in Westport to set up an official little brewery but finding a suitable place was challenging.

In October 2021 the Criterion Hotel Westport became available and Darren knew this would be a suitable place for a brewery so he decided to give it a go however to focus on the hotel to start with. It was a brave move to take on a hotel in the middle of the Covid pandemic and staffing challenges were extremely tough. “It was a lot of work” reflects Darren “but it was good”. Fast forward now, and Darren and partner Julia have had the Criterion for one year. The staffing challenges have still been challenging however he tells me with an upbeat tone “I finally now have some great people to help me out for the summer ahead”.

At some stage, in the not too distance future, Darren will be able to set up his brewery. After which Westport locals and tourists will be able to enjoy his Westport crafted beer. In the meantime, if you haven’t visited the Criterion Hotel Westport pop down for their famous pizza’s and enjoy a drink in the sunny beer garden.