After more than 130 years of operation, the Jubilee Hotel was due for a bit of a makeover. While many of Brisbane’s heritage pubs often receive some form of semi-regular sprucing and primping – a new beer garden here, a revamped bistro there – The Jube’s glow-up was less a simple zhuzh and more a top-to-bottom rejuvenation. But when the opportunity to score a refurb as part of a multi-million-dollar commercial development arises, it’s best to seize the opportunity with two hands, which is exactly what the Tony Burnett Hotels team has done with its portfolio’s crown jewel. The pub’s makeover was an integral part of JGL Properties‘ newly completed high-rise office tower development Jubilee Place, a Blight Rayner-designed project that claimed the Jubilee Hotel’s old car park and built a 14-storey structure that part-cantilevers over the heritage-listed hotel. Viewed from St Paul’s Terrace, the hotel’s classic facade presents a strong juxtaposition of old and new when contrasted with Jubilee Place’s street-level plaza and geometric structural exoskeleton. But peer down Constance Street and you’ll spy some flashy new elements tucked behind The Jube’s original two-storey pub that hint at the new jaw-dropping additions that have been constructed beyond the hotel’s heritage confines.

The TB’s and Blight Rayner team have been eager to preserve The Jube’s all-are-welcome old-school pub charm while improving and modernising its amenities – a tightrope walk they’ve pulled off in style. Enter from the heritage side and you’ll spy the hotel’s ground-floor public bar to your left, where existing elements such as exposed-brick walls have been highlighted by new brass fixtures and understated timber panelling. An updated gaming lounge sits opposite, while a central staircase ascends to the Jubilee Hotel’s updated function and event spaces (more on that below). Move through the building towards the rear (or enter via the brand-new plaza, where the Jube’s original brick masonry wall has been revealed and refreshed) and you’ll emerge out into the eye-popping beer garden, which is unlike any other courtyard space you’ll find in The Valley. The team has removed the old beer garden canopy, replacing it with white sawtooth ceiling that soars overhead. Natural light pours in through skylights and the glass-windowed diagrid structure that runs along the Constance Street side, with rays bouncing off the extension’s white-brick walls, pale concrete and brass-fronted bar and kitchen counter. The courtyard is loosely divided into sections, including a raised bistro area ringed by low-set red brick walls (with a string of booths nestled snugly in the alcoves formed between intersecting diagonal frames), a larger informal floor space closer to the bar, and the Jubilee Hotel’s own microbrewery Two Dogs Brewing in the corner, which is equipped with a small brewing kit, six tanks and seating for 30. A stadium-sized screen is suspended above the courtyard for televised sporting fixtures, while a live-music stage and DJ platform has been built on top of the bar. Peering over the courtyard is the Jubilee Hotel’s premier events space Frankies Terrace (named in honour of owner Tony Burnett’s father Frank), boasting its own bar and an inside-outside terrace. It’s one of several function rooms that occupy The Jube’s second floor, alongside balcony space Constance Bridge, the 100-guest capacity Jubilee Room and small breakout nooks Bella 1 and Bella 2 (furnished with elegant Chesterfield lounges). The Journo Room, a 20-seat private-dining space and 300-bottle wine cellar, is located back on the ground floor behind the public bar.

In addition to the complete overhaul of its amenities, the Jubilee Hotel has sought to elevate its bistro offering. Head chef Jamie Mackinney is overseeing the upgraded menu, which delivers familiar pub classics with some luxe tweaks. The fun kicks off with a selection of appetite-whetting starters like natural oysters, Peking duck spring rolls and mushroom bruschetta, before moving onto tuna nicoise salads, crispy buttermilk fried-chicken burgers, panko-crumbed schnitzels, sandcrab spagettini, pappardelle with Little Acre mushrooms, crumbed fillet steak and spanakopita. A ‘From The Paddock’ section sees tender grass-fed Mary Valley eye fillets, rumps, sirloins and rib-on-the-bone steaks served alongside staple sides, while an imported pizza oven pumps out five red-base and four white-base pizzas. As Slim Dusty once sang, “There’s-a nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear than to stand in the bar of a pub with no beer.” Thankfully, the Jubilee Hotel is equipped with 150 beer taps, so there’s little chance you’ll go thirsty. In addition to a collection of domestic and international faves, The Jube’s taps are also dispensing freshly brewed batches of Two Dogs beer, with three ales (Frankies, Red Dog and Blue Dog) on offer. The hotel’s wine list features a tidy and accessible list of Australian and imported vino, but high-roller oenophiles should look to the cellar reserve list for top drops like Henschke Hill of Grace shiraz, magnums of John Riddoch cabernet sauvignon from Wynns Estate and a range of Penfolds greats.

The new-look Jubilee Hotel is now open to the public. Operating hours, menu details and booking info can be found one click away in the Stumble Guide.