After two COVID lockdowns you'd think hoteliers Thomas and Kristen Nock wouldn't recall their brief time in Orange with much fondness.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But despite the long list of challenges they can't seem to stop praising the city and it's a sentiment they believe is gaining traction.
"As far as we're concerned, we've been travelling to Orange for 25 years but living here for four and we're just inspired that there's a lot of good people who only want the best for the town," he said.
"That's one of the reasons we built this place. Orange is unique and going places.
"People just can't believe there are so many high quality restaurants for a start. In a country town, they are a really surprised by that.
"It makes us unique in the Central West as a minimum but further afield as well. We have these unique wines, cool climate wines. I think they are going to become harder to come by as temperatures keep warming."
Mr Nock said the hotel, which used to be a historical homestead, struggled after opening but had since enjoyed a boost in visitors, something that's critical for a business with next to no marketing.
"It had taken us a long time to get open," he said of the October 2019 launch.
"Honestly COVID was devastating and made far worse by no one knowing what it was or what it meant.
"But once we reopened we went for a year running at 92 per cent occupancy which was absolutely mental. Ironically it did help us in some way because we got discovered a lot quicker than we would under normal circumstances.
"We're staring to get people on big road trips from South Australia, Queensland, that sort of thing. They've heard about us, they want to come to Orange, they are hearing good things about the city.
"The word is slowly getting out there. I think they've been surprised what Orange has to offer and surprised they just can't walk into Charred on a Saturday night without a booking."
But Mr Nock is wary of relying on the same crowd and said he'd like to see some more innovation in the colour city, whether that be bringing an NRL game to town or more youth activities.
"[We need] different ways to get people here, different reasons," he said.
"We have the chamber music festival, that's something different. You have the food week, wine week. If the football stadium comes online then that's a completely different market.
"The key is not to rely just one market. You've got your NRL, you've got your chamber music, you've got a jazz festival and then your food and wine. You want different reasons for people to come here so the weekends are always full.
"It would be nice to see a bit more for kids though, I sometimes scratch my head and wonder what kids do."
To read more stories, download the Central Western Daily news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
