Spacious basic shower. The hotel is a part of the Wrest Point Casino complex. The reception area is extremely outdated and needs a revamp. The entire complex, carpark and gardens needs a massive overhaul to bring it in line with a modern hotel. The hotel has a small gym with men and women's saunas in each rest room.
Wrest Point offers a range of restaurants and bars, including one of Hobart’s premier dining restaurants - the award-award winning Point Revolving Restaurant located on the 17th floor with 360 degree views; or the Boardwalk Bistro - a family-friendly destination with great quality food and a focus on great value. Booked into Wrest Point Hotel - a huge choice - the tower, the riverside or the motel Really great clean rooms and good choice of restaurants etc to choose from Breakfast is lovely Read more Date of experience: February 2020. HT Health Group is an Allied Health Clinic and Fitness Centre located at the Wrest Point Health Club. We offer Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology, Medical Acupuncture, Remedial Massage, Pilates and gym membership including a pool, spa and saunas. Wrest Point Hotel offers comfortable rooms in Hobart, a short drive from the Salamanca market. It features a gym and sauna, outdoor tennis courts and free Wi-Fi. The hotel offers a wide range of facilities, including a heated swimming pool, 24-hour room service and a spa and wellness center.
Wrest Point Casino Gym Membership
| Wrest Point Hotel Casino | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia |
| Coordinates | 42°54′7″S147°20′17″E / 42.90194°S 147.33806°ECoordinates: 42°54′7″S147°20′17″E / 42.90194°S 147.33806°E |
| Opening | 10 February 1973 |
| Management | Federal Hotels |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 17 |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 269 |
| Number of restaurants | 5 + 6 bars |
| Website | |
| Official Site | |
The Wrest Point Hotel Casino was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart, Tasmania, on 10 February 1973.
Granting of the casino licence[edit]
The Wrest Point Riviera Hotel, designed by architect Keith Wildman and built by Arthur Drysdale and opened on 5 December 1939, was originally constructed on the site of the current Wrest Point Casino.[1] During World War II the hotel was 'booming' and the hotel was sold to Australia's oldest hotel group, Federal Hotels, in March 1956.
In the 1960s, The Federal Group attempted to secure Australia's first casino license. At the time, Tasmania's natural scenery and beauty were not widely known elsewhere, and as a result the state wasn't attracting many tourists. The marketing claim was that a casino could be the draw-card that would kick-start Tasmania's tourism industry.
John Haddad, one of the company's executives at the time, was assigned the role of getting a casino license. He met with then Tasmanian PremierEric Reece and other state officials.
A state referendum was held to determine the granting of a gambling licence. The polls were very tight, especially since the question in the referendum attempted to minimise the gambling aspect of the development.
Shortly before the referendum was to be held, the Labor party, sensing they had the numbers in the parliament pushed through the legislation to legalise the casino. They did not wait for the results of the vote. When the vote was taken the hotel redevelopment was narrowly passed. Questions have since been raised about how the legislation was passed, with one member of parliament, Kevin Lyons, suspected of accepting bribes over the licence.[2]
Development[edit]
The development of the casino included the construction of the 17-storey hotel tower, with a revolving restaurant, designed by Sir Roy Grounds, a landmark that is nationally identified with Hobart, and the 64-metre dodecagonal prism tower remains the city's tallest building.
After the centre's opening in 1973 (after which it was known as Wrest Point Hotel Casino) the casino provided a catalyst for the nation's casino industry, with 12 additional casinos opening across the country. This included a second Federal Group casino in Tasmania, the Country Club Casino, which opened in Launceston in 1982.
The building has been extended in recent years, including the conference centre which was opened in 1984, and the boardwalk in 1996. In 2015 a 70 million dollar investment was announced, bringing five new dining outlets and more bars, a private VIP gaming room and a complete new contemporary feel across the entire casino.[citation needed]
Controversy[edit]
While initially the hotel was supposed to be an entertainment complex, the casino soon took over much of the hotel; and, while the poker machines were initially not permitted, by executing successful lobbying,[1] they now come to dominate the complex, with over 650 machines.[3]
The owners of the hotel and the poker machines, Federal Hotels, were fined on a number of occasions for poker machines that were not functioning as programmed, and were thus in breach of the law.[4]
In 2017, the building was protected with a heritage listing.[1] While some saw this as significant, the decision 'angered local residents and puzzled some experts.'[5]
2018 Tasmanian election[edit]
In the 2018 election, the opposition leader, Rebecca White, promised to remove all pokies from pubs and clubs, leaving the two casinos as the only location for pokies in the state, citing the negative health and economic impacts of poker machines.[6] The Federal Group, who own both the casinos and the pokies licences have opposed the policy as have the Liberal government.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Wrest Point Casino Gym &
- ^ abc'Hobart's giant 'hair roller' honoured with heritage listing'. ABC News. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^patrickw@themonthly.com.au (1 March 2017). 'Tasmania got gamed'. The Monthly. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^'Best pokies venues in Tasmania'. Online Casino Sites. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^'Wrest Point Casino fined for allowing faulty poker machine to be played'. ABC News. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^'Questions raised about heritage listing of Hobart's Wrest Point Casino'. Commercial Property & Real Estate News. 30 August 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^'Pokies out of Tasmanian pubs, clubs by 2023 under Labor promise'. ABC News. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ^Koziol, Michael (13 December 2017). 'Tasmania could become first state to blow up the pokies under Labor plan'. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
External links[edit]
- Wrest Point Hotel Casino official site
Apart from Mount Wellington and maybe the Tasman Bridge, the most prominent feature on the Hobart skyline is an octagonal tower standing on the Sandy Bay shoreline, just south of the Royal Tasmanian Yacht Club. At 64 m, this building is the tallest in Hobart. It’s also one of the city’s nightlife hubs. It’s the legendary Wrest Point Casino.
Originally, there was another hotel on the site. Built in 1939, the Wrest Point Riviera Hotel was a popular spot in town and became part of Federal Hotels in 1956. During the next decade, the hotel group, the oldest in Australia, wanted to attract more visitors to Tassie and they thought the best way to do this was to open a casino. The problem was that there had never been a legal casino anywhere in the country.
Not everyone thought a casino would be a good idea, though, so in 1968 a state referendum was held to ask the public how they felt. With a ‘yes’ vote of 53%, the casino was given a green light and construction of the new hotel and casino complex started. The grand opening was in 1973 and the Wrest Point Casino set the ball in motion for other casinos to open in Tasmania.
Today the complex offers a range of accommodation for different budgets, with the most luxurious rooms in the famous tower. At the top of this 17-floor structure is The Point Revolving Restaurant, where you can have lunch or high tea on Fridays and dinner on Tuesday to Saturday nights, all while enjoying stunning 360-degree views of Hobart.
The hotel and casino complex has several other dining options on offer too, including a waterfront restaurant and bar, a coffee shop and a bistro. There are a couple of bars too, one of which, the Birdcage Bar, has live music on most nights. Wrest Point regularly hosts spectacular shows and big-name acts and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra often performs here.
Other facilities at Wrest Point include a hair salon, a beauty salon, a convention centre and a private pier. There are sports facilities such as a gym, swimming pool, tennis court and mini golf too.
Of course the main reason for Wrest Point’s existence is the casino itself, Australia’s first. This is where you can be the high roller at the roulette wheel or blackjack table, put on your poker face or try and hit the jackpot at the gaming machines.
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