The Great Western Hotel is under new ownership with big plans in the works.
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BJ Barrett, Nicole Barrett, Josh Quilty and Brad Quilty purchased the pub and spent the past few months hard at work to bring it back to life.
"At the start of (2022), none of us expected that we'd own a pub by the end of it," Mr Barrett said.
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"It was a bit of an accident really. We were looking for something to invest in and we had a couple of other places fall through.
"I came across this, started asking a few questions about it and when I found out there were 30 rooms upstairs, that's what intrigued us to come and have a look."
Although there is some pub experience between the quartet - with Brad Quilty having previously managed the Canobolas Hotel - their focus will be mainly on the upstairs accommodation.
"We've got a pretty reputable restaurant that's going to be taking over downstairs," Mr Barrett added.
"They'll have the pub, the restaurant and there's another little shop out the side, so they'll basically be running the whole ground floor."
As for who will be taking over the pub and restaurant, Mr Barrett is keeping that under wraps for now, but says the anticipation is building.
"We haven't really told anyone what's going on downstairs, so I think everyone's more excited for that than anything else," he said.
"As for upstairs, we're going to be targeting miners, your construction workers and then backpackers and people coming out for Food Week and stuff like that. I think Orange needs a bit of budget accommodation."
The group found out they had been successful in their bid to buy the hotel around the end of September and Mr Barrett said it was a hard job to keep things secret.
"We tried to keep it under wraps, but Orange is Orange so a lot of people knew before we did I think," he said with a smile.
"We were trying to keep it from everybody, so we weren't even telling our families and then all of a sudden we had people calling and messaging us to ask if we'd bought the Western. By the end of it you couldn't really deny it."
Renovations at the pub began at the end of October, which Mr Barrett said was a "pleasant experience, believe it or not."
"Being all four of us are Orange born and bred we know quite a few tradies around town which made life a lot easier.
"Brad and Josh are both quite experienced in demolition and renovation which also helped us come in on time and under budget. We can't thank the local tradies enough for fitting us in and getting the work done on time.
Mr Barrett said they had a clear-cut plan for 140-year-old hotel.
"Main aim is to get great reviews, so we want to keep this place as clean and tidy as we can," he said.
"It's one of the oldest pubs in Orange and we want to keep it heritage."
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