A $30 million resort would be built alongside Harrigan's Irish Pub in Pokolbin under bold plans lodged with Cessnock City Council.
The hotel's owner, development company Roche Group, has submitted a development application to construct the accommodation complex across 3.5 hectares of land it owns behind the Broke Road venue.
The proposed resort features 96 units, a wellness centre, swimming pools, tennis courts, a multi-purpose entertainment area, village green, car parking and other associated facilities.
The resort would be in addition to the pub's existing 48-room motel and nearby Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens, both of which are owned by Roche Group.
The development site is adjacent the popular Hunter Valley Gardens, also owned by the company.
Documents provided as part of the application state the proposal is in response to the "increasing number of visitors to Hunter Valley Wine Country" and "demand for accommodation on site within the Hunter Valley Gardens precinct".
The resort will include 62 serviced apartments and 34 hotel rooms, along with 341 parking spaces across underground and surface areas.
"The additional tourist and visitor accommodation will provide greater opportunities for tourists to stay overnight or have longer stays in the region and assist in growing the visitor economy," Roche Group's planning documents state.
The Hunter Valley, like other tourist destinations around the country, has had to deal with the loss of international visitors since the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia more than a year ago. However, increased domestic tourism has helped allay some of that impact.
The resort development, which is permissible under the site's Primary Production Small Lots zoning, will "integrate with and enhance" the existing hotel and motel "through sympathetic design".
The plans are on public exhibition until May 31.
Harrigan's Irish Pub is one of the most popular hospitality venues in the area. Roche Group bought the hotel in 1998, renaming it from the Tallawanta Hotel in 2000.
It now has multiple hotels carrying the Harrigan's name.
It completed a major renovation of the Pokolbin pub in 2019 and will start building a similar venue in Cameron Park next month.
That long-planned venue is expected to open in the first half of next year.
