4x4 pub: Betoota Hotel

The resurrection is complete, and the Betoota Hotel is open again for the first time in 23 years.

Well, it reopened on 20 July 2020 but it was a real challenge to reach the finish line according to Robert ‘Robbo’ Haken, the owner who purchased the pub in 2017.

Betoota was once a thriving town at the turn of the century as a customs post collecting taxes for goods travelling between South Australia and Queensland. The township is located 167km east of Birdsville, 219km west of Windorah and 345km from Innamincka, and is 6km from the turn-off from the Birdsville Development Road.

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The old double brick walls have seen much over the past 100 years with the hotel being built in 1923 and closed in 1997, when then-owner Simon Remienko retired at 82 years of age. He’d owned the pub since 1957 and passed away in 2004.

Now it has reopened, the Betoota Hotel has come alive once again. Sitting at the bar chatting with Robbo, people were always coming and going, with $5 beers helping travellers to wash the dust from their throats. The pub is open from 10 am to 12 am every day.

Free camping is available out the front of the hotel with access to flushing toilets and hot showers ($5 for a shower paid for at the bar). If you’d prefer waterfront views, head down to the creek to camp by the permanent waterholes where the yabbies will be biting.

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For something more upmarket, Robbo has three rooms out the back for $100 per night, with double beds and three single beds in each, and the shearers quarters has 15 beds at $20 per bed.

Robbo is an old-school publican and the way he interacts with customers is hilarious. If you ever wanted to be a barfly, this is the pub to do it in; you’ll hear many stories from Robbo and the ambience is fantastic.

Robbo’s background was in V8 motor racing, and for more than 20 years he repaired the bodywork of busted-up racecars. While I was visiting, he helped out a couple of travellers who’d developed brake issues somewhere between Windorah and Betoota. After finding some brake line in his workshop, he cut it to size and flanged it so that the travellers could make it to Birdsville – that’s the type of fella Robbo is.

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There is a plethora of memorabilia around the place and the original entrances in the dining room and the concrete flagstones are worth checking out. There are also plenty of areas in which to sit and enjoy the experience, under the verandah, in the bar, in the pool room or out in the beer garden. For a remote outback pub, it doesn’t get much better than this.

When the Birdsville events are on, the pub draws people in like moths to a flame. With camp oven cooking, $5 beers and live music keeping the place rocking, it’s no wonder many travellers choose to camp at Betoota and travel to Birdsville on the back of one of Robbo’s old trucks, the FJ, the Jeep or the Ford Model T.

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There are also a couple of annual events that occur in Betoota itself; the Betoota Races are held on the last weekend in August and the Betoota Horse & Motorbike Gymkhana is held over the Queensland Easter School Holidays.

In 2024 the Betoota Hotel is also resurrecting its traditional cricket game where everyone is welcome – get in touch with the hotel to find out the dates.
Dinner is a busy time at the hotel and when we were there Robbo was on his own. He’d whipped up his famous ham and salad stew with rice and bread, which was so tasty many of us went back for seconds.

After dinner, the fire was lit outside the pub and everyone gathered around, chatting about where they’d been and where they were going next.

It was an excellent way to end the day and I’m told that this is a regular event, just with a different mix of travellers.

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