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- Commonwealth Hotel Newcastle
Commonwealth Hotel Newcastle
- +61249262680
- 35 Union Street, Cooks Hill, New South Wales 2300, Australia
Published:
July 19, 2024
About Commonwealth Hotel Newcastle
Modest rooms in an informal hotel offering a vibrant sports bar, plus a restaurant with pub menus. In a circa-1882 brick building, this laid-back hotel is a 19-minute walk from Newcastle Interchange train station, 2 km from Newcastle Beach and 3 km from Fort Scratchley, an interactive museum with underground tunnels. The 10 modest rooms have shared or private bathrooms, and offer free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs with satellite channels. Amenities include a lively sports bar featuring 32 flat-screen TVs and casino games, and a relaxed restaurant offering classic pub food and a terrace.
Dine in
Delivery
Service Options
Highlights
Great cocktails
Sports
Offerings
Alcohol
Beer
Cocktails
Food
Hard liquor
Wine
Atmosphere
Casual
Cozy
Planning
Accepts reservations
Parking
Free street parking
Accessibility
Wheelchair accessible entrance
Wheelchair accessible restroom
Dining_options
Seating
Crowd
Groups
Payments
Credit cards
Debit cards
NFC mobile payments
Map
Commonwealth Hotel Newcastle Reviews
Wow!! The food here is breathtakingly bad. Table of 12 - five had steaks all cold, not warm, cold. Solution? Nuke ‘em - now you have five steaks that are hot but overcooked. I had the Jambalaya - big mistake. God knows what the chef was doing but it was Luke warm and absolute rubbish. No apologies, no refunds, nothing. First and last time at this place
- Rodney daly
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Went on mother's day for lunch. Very busy and popular. The food was ok pub grub, nothing to be excited about.
- Conrad Ball
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
We just stopped in for lunch and had a Vegan Snitzel Burger and a beer the Burger was great, prices were good. Service was great and the staff were very friendly. We'll be back.
- Hannes
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
We cannot speak to the food, but as for the hotel rooms: we had a night full of noise (mostly from the people and slot machines downstairs until 4am) but also because of the old windows. The bed wasn’t to a hotel standard.
The funny thing is they must have renovated the bathrooms but didn’t even buy a new bed?
We definitely would not stay here again, but as mentioned before we cannot speak for the food…
- Sandra Legge
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Very cool! Suburban pub in cooks Hill Newcastle. Love the atmosphere. Heaps of fun people around. Great service didn't eat here so I can't rate the food.
- Alice Davies
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
This is a review of the accommodation as we didn’t have a drink or eat there. Nice rooms, clean, good aircon and very comfortable bed. Shared bathrooms were clean, showers hot with great water pressure. Staff were great and really helpful. The location is good too. My only suggestion is to add hand towels or dryers in the bathroom.
- Deborah Tellis
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
This is a great place for excellent food & service. The menu is excellent. The outdoor area is beautiful. This pub has become one of our family favourites for dinner out.
🤤😋👌🏻👍🏻
- Bec Aitken
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Steak burger special.. cold steak on a burger? Uncooked bacon? Chips tasted like oil. Wont be back
- paul muddle
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Staying for a week at a time .
Staff are very good , service likewise .
My room (8) has a new bathroom and looks recently painted . Clean and tidy .
Only tiny negative is that the TV doesn't swivel on its mount , and is therefore difficult to watch in bed .
Enjoyed my stay and will be back soon .
- samuraidarryl
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
So we dropped in for a quick dinner on our way to the Civic Theatre recently and were so glad we selected the Commonwealth Hotel.
The first thing we noticed was the decor, old and authentic. The staff noticed us and were extremely pleasant and helpful.
Our food came swiftly and was delicious. We had fish and chips to be quick and the service, quality of food and quantity was excellent.
I would totally recommend anyone looking for a meal to try the Commonwealth Hotel. The culture of the business is great. Every staff member was pleasant and you could see that they were all happy in their roles (from the kitchen to the waitresses to the bar staff). There was nothing that you could not like about The Commonwealth Hotel.
We will be back.
- Bart Betkowski
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
My favourite pub in Newcastle for food and service. My lady and I really enjoyed the whole experience.
- Steve Lucas
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Love The Commy's friendly staff, yummy food (esp. the veggie options!), and free Friday snacks! Great place to catch up with friends, with different seating areas to suit any vibe. Only downside: 20 beers on tap, but no local brews. Would love to see some local craft beers on offer!
Edit: Since management has responded so quickly and will presumably put at least one of the local 15 breweries' beers on tap 🍻, I'm changing my review from 3 stars to 5 😍.
- BeachLover 11
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
I've spent the night there this Friday (12/7/2024) on my visit to Newcastle and surrounding suburbs. The first thing I noticed was that the staff there were quite pleasant and helpful. They were very busy but would try to help you as much as they could. Secondly, the hotel is in a perfect location where ALDI supermarket is just in front of it and easy to walk to Harris Farm Markets, Bar Beach, Sport Grounds on Union street, Newcastle Interchange from the hotel. However, like any other previous reviews here, the pub is just downstairs of the hotel, and they opens until 4am with loud music and loud drunkers talking downstairs so it's very hard to get to sleep. Also, if you can't find anywhere to charge your phone/laptop, the power sockets should be on the wall right next to the side of your bed if you move the bed out away from the wall a bit you can see it. Overall, 5 stars for great customer service and convenience location.
- Gyppo Thomas (Gyp)
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
I struggle to see the appeal in this place, the staff are very selective for whom they serve, the patronage trends to the cotarie of the local familiar whom position themselves at select corners heading up the tables of wisdom while those not privy to the culture are barley acknowledged. Music is compensated for the operatic clanging of competitive and is largely seemed to be the accepted style , the meals are par making the overall ambiance and character of the once majestic beauty rather assuming. There are much much better places to be
- Edson Oliveira (Eddie)
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
I recommend this hotel for one or two days, there's no room service which means they don't replace the towels and don't clean the rubbish. Location is good. Just one toilet and two showers.
- Malcolm Jack
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Having stayed there before, the staff were their usual excellent self, except I would presume the bar manager, who seemed to have a permanent scowl, food as always was excellent, but room was average and a bit tatty, we had no kettle, had to walk to maccas to get a coffee, shower room was a bit grubby and only one toilet with no hand towels etc.. im not sure I would recommend staying there , and because no one there til 10am when I left keys, couldn't let my concerns be known, as a former publican , could do better
- Dennis Englefield
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Had dinner here Friday night, DON’T order the Pasta. The gnocchi was swimming in oil and pesto, pumpkin gnocchi was stodgy, couldn’t eat much. The spaghetti prawn and crabless was exceptionally dry, hey where’s the sauce, will not recommend,
- Linda Thomas
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Great pub food. Eat inside or out in a courtyard. Drinks at pub prices. Guinness on tap.
Once a month they have a 'mystery monday' 3 course menu for $45.
We loved it!
- James A
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Great place for a feed. Some plant based vegan options. Lots of space out the back
- Dylan Walsh
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Good price and location.
Poker machines can be heard from the room. The free games etc and the patrons cheering when they win them etc. Good times being heard is generally nice but not when this keeps you up to all hours. Better insulation might assist with the noise.
You can hear the other doors slam during the night and they slam hard with no absorbers. This can wake you every hour or so.
The property has lost some condition since the ownership change and is starting to look tired.
Very clean and staff are friendly.
Brilliant location.
- Murray R
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Good honest pub. Has become my go-to in Newcastle over the years and my first recommendation to anyone coming in. Great food, plenty of beers on tap and good staff. Can’t ask much more.
- Divya DSilva
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
For what the price is the room is fair. Next time I would book a room with an ensuite as I was travelling with a child. The shared bathroom was clean and only small so not too many people in while in use.
The rooms were clean with a TV, AC and fan, and a tiny bar fridge. It would help to have a larger fridge.
The pillows are not great, so I recommend taking your own pillows.
And the blind, however, did break, the staff did not have enough time to fix it while we were there.
The sound from below is faint when in rooms as the pub is old and solid walls minimise external noise.
Mia from front bar was wonderful with helping me carry my suitcase upstairs, as I did not know that the rooms were upstairs, and if you have a bad back, keep this in mind as there’s two sets of stairs to carry your luggage up to your rooms.
The staff were generally pretty friendly and welcoming. I didn’t get a chance to try out their food which is a shame as I’ve heard good things about the food from the kitchen.
- Abbie Booker
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Claire is a g. Thankyou for fab service
Food is elite, best food in cooks hill
Ps bring the honey soy prawn on the menu, they are the most elite thing to enter my mouth hole
Thankyou, love you
- nathan davies
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Booked a room and had a few drinks, then I was asked to leave because I was too drunk. I didn't hurt anyone, just having a good time. I said I had a room upstairs and they said too bad, leave now. No refund was given. Avoid if you want to get a bit boozy.
- Chloe Simpkin
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Best Gluten Free menu. The parmi is excellent, I highly recommend.
- Coral Louise
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
Best Gluten Free Menu in Newcastle!!Honestly probably some of the best gluten free food I’ve had. For those who are coeliac, they have a separate fryer and are very much aware of coeliac disease.
Pictured is their GF Parmi and their GF Crumbed chicken and bacon burger.
- Shane Ogden
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
A brilliant Gluten Free menus. Generous portion size meals, and all items we ordered very tasty. Good value for what you get. Loved the Jambalaya
- Amy Henson
19 Fri 2024 at 03.41 pm
10/10 gluten free Parma. Most of the menu can be done safe for coeliacs as they have a seperate fryer, yay! Great little outdoor courtyard full of plants.
- Stephen P