Royal Hotel Mount Hope

After departing West Wyalong, we headed on to our furthest inland point on this leg of the tour, the Royal Hotel Mount Hope.

Mount Hope was not supposed to be the next stop. But we discovered the Royal Hotel Condobolin closed for renovations when we arrived in town for the night. So after dinner at a distinctly non-Royal pub, the following morning we set out from Condobolin with high optimism for Mount Hope.

At more than 500km from the nearest coastline, the Royal Hotel Mount Hope is a classic outback pub. It’s the clearly the centre of the town. Although that’s probably largely because it’s one of maybe 2 or 3 buildings in the town. But the rugged red dirt landscapes surrounding the pub are exactly what we were picturing when we planned this trip months ago. It’s a simple concrete building in the middle of nowhere with a giant Carlton Draught sign.

Apparently in its heyday Mount Hope had a population over 500 and four licensed pubs. Now the Royal is the last one left. And Mount Hope itself is officially our smallest stop on the tour so far with 19 residents.

Walking in, the Royal Hotel Mount Hope is everything you want from a remote Royal. It’s a space that perfectly balanced between welcoming and no-nonsense. Standard taps and bar up front, with a woodfire stove in the corner and a solid selection of merch on the walls (have I mentioned we love our Royal merch?). Even better, around the back was a pool room with free pool. Not even one of those coin operated tables set to ‘free’. It’s just a pool table with normal pockets that you can just play pool on. A radical concept that not nearly enough pubs embrace.

We wandered in around 10:30am on a Saturday morning. As mentioned previously in the blog, wandering into a pub that early in the morning can sometimes be slightly awkward. In this case the only other people in the pub at the time were the publicans. But despite the early hour, they were more than up for a chat and were enthusiastic about the Tour as a whole.

One of the interesting facts we discovered during the chat with the publicans was that the bar we were sitting at was in fact completely made of concrete. Not only that, but apparently it’s one of only two currently operating concrete bars in Australia. I don’t remember what the other one was and I have not independently verified this information, but they seemed like trustworthy people so I’m happy to take them at their word.

We spent most of our time at the Royal Hotel Mount Hope around in the aforementioned pool room. But we had a good wander around the pub too. There were multiple trips to the bar to survey and eventually purchase some of the merch. I came away with a hat while Jase got himself a shearers singlet (one with an extra long back for additional crack coverage while leaning over). The toilet was in a separate corrugated metal building that (according to Bert) was also home to a couple of local frogs and swayed gently in the breeze.

Overall everything about the place just gave of the vibe of a pub full of character where you could really relax into a good solid session. Jase summed it up best when he said he was bummed for Friday night Jase that we didn’t make it out to Mount Hope for that good solid session. But he was happy for Saturday morning Jase for the same reason.

Unfortunately, Mount Hope being our first stop of the day meant that all too soon we had to get back on the road to the next Royal. So we bid goodbye to the publicans (and frogs in the toilet) and got back on our way. But the unanimous verdict was the Royal Hotel Mount Hope definitely fulfilled all of our expectations. And it ticked every box for what you want in a remote Royal. Even though it’s pretty darn remote, I dare say we will be back.

Royal Stats

• Town/Suburb: Mount Hope, NSW
• Population: 19
• Date Visited: Saturday, February 10, 2024
• Visited By: Cory, John, Jase, and Bert
• Beer Sponsorship on Sign: Carlton Draught
• Beer Consumed at Pub: VB
• Price of Schooner of Said Beer: $6.50
• Unique Award: Best Royal Concrete Bar
• Tour Progress: 39.5% (53/134)