General News
4 November, 2025
Leopold Hotel to change hands
ARARAT’s historic Leopold Hotel has officially been sold. Bruce and Heather Ahchow, owners of Great Western Hotel and Salingers Café, are set to take over in December promising a fresh new look. The iconic building went up for sale in August, and the Ahchows jumped at the chance to keep the last remaining pub open in Ararat in local hands.
Settlement is expected to be finalised by mid-December, with Bruce confirming that if all goes to plan, the handover will be completed “this side of Christmas.”
“We’ve been negotiating on it since the sale was announced,” Bruce said.
“I’m pretty passionate about maintaining quality hospitality, visitor services and tourism. I saw this as an opportunity to deliver that passion into Ararat.”
Bruce said the couple viewed the Leopold as the “last traditional pub in Ararat,” and their goal is to restore it as a vibrant, family-friendly venue.
“We want to keep it, put food back in there, and open it up as a family-friendly pub,” he said.
“We want to work with the trend that’s happening in Ararat to lift hospitality services,” in an acknowledgement of the efforts to boost local hospitality with businesses like the Mess and Barracks.
The first priority for the Ahchows will be to get the kitchen back up and running.
“Our first focus is to get the kitchen operating again. We’ll get meals going as soon as we can get a kitchen crew together,” he said.
Bruce added that they hope to bring back the Leopold’s traditional role as a community hub.
“It’s about creating an inviting space that’s there for the community. We think that’s really important, and if you look at what we’ve done in Great Western, you can see that,
“We try to stick to the principle of it being a community place where everyone feels welcome and safe.”
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