The Kings Cross Hotel has taken down a Keep Sydney Open banner, after being politely asked by the City of Sydney Council.
The banner went up two weeks ago ahead of the recent ‘Meet me in the Cross’ music festival, but Solotel’s Marketing Director Dan Lacaze told TheShout that the hotel has since been asked by the city council to take the sign down.
“We were contacted and politely asked to take the sign down, which we are doing within the timeframe they asked of us,” Lacaze said.
“The Kings Cross Hotel is passionate about keeping Sydney open, and in this instance we might have been a little too passionate.”
Lacaze said because the hotel has long been an iconic part of Sydney’s nightlife and that nightlife was important to the city, it was important that the hotel be part of the discussion about lockouts. He also acknowledged that progress has been made recently and that within the last month the Kings Cross Hotel has had its trading hours extended by half an hour to 3.30am.
He also told TheShout that the ‘Meet me in the Cross’ festival had been very successful for the venue, pointing towards encouraging signs for the area.
“We had over 1400 through the door that evening and 1200 of those had not been to the Kings Cross Hotel before. So that’s 1200 new patrons in the hotel, we had no incidents and that’s a really positive experience. It’s the biggest night we’ve had in the Kings Cross Hotel since the lockouts started and we that as something that is really positive.”