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public hotel

Public hotel is the Australian and New Zealand term for what the British would call a pub or public house.

ˈpʌblɪk hoʊˈtɛl63 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
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Australia
#1·Apr 28, 2026AUS

Public hotel is the Australian and New Zealand term for what the British would call a pub or public house. The name reflects the historical licensing distinction where a hotel was permitted to serve alcohol to the general public — the public part of the establishment. Even when the accommodation function was nominal or nonexistent, the hotel label stuck. Today a public hotel in Australia is simply a bar or drinking venue, and locals often just call it a pub.

They arranged to meet at the public hotel on the corner before heading to the football.
Origin: Derived from colonial-era licensing law that required venues serving alcohol to be registered as hotels, creating a legal fiction that persists in the name. Editorial expansion authored on Slangora (model-assisted, hedged).
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Australia
#2·Apr 27, 2026AUS

(AU) A public house; a pub.

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