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The Continental in Sorrento, Victoria has been closed for many years. Once a haunt for those on the Mornington Peninsula looking for a large night out, the doors have been locked, windows missing, and cranes hovering over it for years.
‘The Conti’ has occupied the top of the hill overlooking Port Phillip Bay in Sorrento for 145 years. After redevelopment plans were approved years ago, the owners ran into trouble with the redevelopment before the historic hotel was placed in the hands of receivers. It was then sold to a consortium of Victor Smorgon Group, Kanat Group and Trenerry Property for $14.5M.
Now, after being in limbo for years, plans have finally surfaced of what we can expect to see once The Conti’s doors reopen.
On the food and beverage front, Scott Pickett will be heavily involved. Scott has been here there and everywhere over the past couple of years, opening new venues all over Melbourne, and now he’ll have a spot in Sorrento. Give someone else a go mate.
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The hotel will have a restaurant named ‘Audrey’s’, which is named after Pickett’s grandmother who inspired him to cook, as well as a public bar (essential), beer garden, conservatory, poolside dining, street fining, and a late-night venue for the sesh gremlins. There will also be 24-hour in-room dining as part of the accommodation and a roof deck with views of the sunset which will be open for private bookings.
“The Continental Sorrento is such a beautiful and significant establishment. I feel humbled to be associated with it and am excited to bring our food and hospitality to Sorrento,” said Pickett.
“It’s been brilliant working with Craig (publican Craig Shearer) across areas that are new to us like high volume bars and large patron numbers expected to reach up to 5,000 a day. It’s a little bit different from where I started with a 30 seater restaurant in Northcote!”
You’ll find The Continental Sorrento at 1-21 Ocean Beach Road, Sorrento. The hotel is due to open in stages from December 2021 to June 2022.
About Sorrento:
Sorrento is a coastal town south of Metropolitan Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It is thought that the name ‘Sorrento’ (after the Italian seaside town) was conferred upon what was known as Sullivans Bay when the area was first opened for housing development in 1869.[2]
The Boon wurrung people occupied the area now known as the Mornington Peninsula for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.
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