The Stag and Hunter Hotel owner Mick Starkey only wanted to install some lights on the side of his family's Mayfield pub, but the work quickly morphed into an exterior refurbishment.
"It's turned into that, it wasn't meant to be. It started out as a $10,000 job and it's turned into a $200,000 job," Mr Starkey said.
The Stag and Hunter is one of multiple hotels across the region completing or planning to undertake upgrades.
The prominent venue on the corner of Maitland Road and Hanbury Street is covered in scaffolding, and despite looking like a major overhaul project, Mr Starkey said it was more of a spruce up for the 1929 building.
"It started out as putting some architectural lighting in ... to make the venue look a bit more appealing," he said.
"But we were going to need a scaffold to get the guys up there safely to install it, so we thought we would get it painted. Then we had to get some concrete cancer sorted. Now it's a full restoration of the outside."
Mr Starkey said the "delicate" exterior project followed internal alternations completed last year.
In Merewether, about two-thirds of the Mary Ellen Hotel has been demolished as the owners embark on a $2.1 million renovation.
The pub's western end including its bottle shop has been demolished and will be replaced with a new building and open-air beer garden.
The new areas will expand across the former bottle shop's parking spaces and feature a retractable roof, bistro with kids' play area and outdoor gaming room.
James Hannon of Haps Hotels, which bought the pub almost three years ago, said the venue had not had a significant makeover in more than a decade.
"It needed a bit of a rejuvenation," he said. "We're gutting the place and rejigging the whole thing.
"But we're maintaining the original building and hope to enhance that with a more traditional look."
The renovation will produce a more family-friendly venue, Mr Hannon said, with the aim to attract more locals. The work is expected to wrap up by December.
Andrew Lazarus, owner of The Beach Hotel in Merewether, said he was meeting with council this week after councillors deferred a decision on his proposed $3.1 million reno in June. Mr Lazarus said he had hoped to win approval in order to complete the refurbishment by summer but that now appeared unlikely.
In Lake Macquarie, Warners At The Bay has won council approval to complete an $800,000 hotel alteration but work is yet to begin.
Roche Group has also started early work on its long-planned Harrigan's Irish Pub at Cameron Park. It is expected to open in 2022.
