Queanbeyan's The Tourist Hotel's art deco makeover

The renovation included buttermilk and black tiles on the front facade, marble bar, dark wood booths, leather lounges and new lighting.

The renovation is two-thirds complete with the front area of the bar refurbished and opened to the public this week.

The final piece of the puzzle involves the demolition of the rear of the establishment and installation of concertina doors.

This is expected to happen from mid-January 2015 and completed by March. The dining room will be able to seat up to 150 patrons when the renovation is finished.

Project manager Steve Bartlett said with the upgrades of nearby establishments Walsh's Hotel and the Royal Hotel, they had to invest some capital into the Tourist to bring it up to speed.

"The hotel was a tired property with fit-out dating from the '70s so there were small spaces, it was dark with low ceilings," Mr Bartlett said.

"We've taken the ceilings back to the original height, removed a lot of walls and gone for a timber, marble and upholstery feel. We're trying to remain as faithful to art deco as you can."

The art deco design of the hotel is homage to its history.

A large black and white mural has been installed on one of the walls showing the main street of Queanbeyan with a much older version of the Tourist Hotel.

And it's not just the hotel's furnishing that have changed, so too has the menu. There's a move away from pub grub and greater focus on modern Australian cuisine, Mr Bartlett said.

"Now this hotel is a food-based hotel. People don't come to the hotel just for a drink, you come for a night out, you enjoy it with your friends," he said.

"It's just going to be a nice place to come that's going to have some decent quality, hotel brasserie food.

"It's meant to be providing a good hospitality experience, very high quality food and customer service at a price that people feel comfortable paying."

Mr Bartlett said they're very happy with the finished product and the renovations only came in "marginally" over budget.

Once complete, Mr Bartlett expects it will create an additional 15 to 20 local jobs mainly for kitchen and floor staff.

However, he did add that trading at the same time as the renovations was "difficult".

"Towards the end of every job, everyone has what's called 'renovation fatigue'. They get very tired of the whole thing," he said.

"It is difficult trading at a hotel during a renovation and it is emotionally taxing on people but everyone is excited to see it going forward, genuinely they are."