The Bay Hotel Mornington

Lovely place, 10/10 pub food (best chips I’ve had in forever!), and lovely staff who’ll make you a great mimosa!

The (admittedly not the best) photo attached.

Great place. Staff are having fun, but still very attentive & makes for great atmosphere. Food pretty good, great meal specials. We will make this a regular weekly dinner night out.

The Bay Hotel Mornington

So last night my partner and I decided to go for a drink at the local hotel in Mornington, to be precise, The Bay Hotel in Mornington. We got there around 11.30pm and after putting the parents to bed, thought it’d be a nice way to spend our last night together, before we head to Brisbane and Sydney and then back to London where we live. We come back every year to spend time with our parents, and at considerable expense. We walked in with photo ID and had a gin and tonic each and I bought a bottle of wine to share before heading home. A girl fell on the floor drunk upstairs on the dance floor after the band had finished, which security turned a blind eye too, so my partner and I watched on in the corner and had our red wine, and then was abruptly told to leave the premises, which I thought was odd, but just assumed they were closing the bar and it was time to leave. I recall a security man say suggesting I’d had too much to drink which I thought was very odd as I’d only had a G&T and having my glass of wine, so we were asked to leave the venue.

I soon realised that they weren’t closing the bar, far from it, but security men behind us escorting us out onto the footpath having being asked to leave the venue. My partner challenged them and asked why as we hadn’t done anything wrong, and moreover, we had spent a considerable amount of money in the process. But it was evident that we were victims of discrimination for being gay, not drunk or any untoward or disruptive behaviour, it was clear that we weren’t the clientele they wanted in their venue.

I haven’t lived in Australia for twenty five years, or been a victim of abuse or discrimination as a gay man for many years, and thought those days had passed whereby LGBTQ community are asked to leave, but here we are in 2024 with this still allowed to be accepted. Saddened and shocked, and upset as I write this, it’s a stark warning, that sadly, venues like this are allowed to still be able to do this and get away with it. It might be worthwhile remembering that it is against the law (see below)

• Sex Discrimination Act 1984

• Victoria – Equal Opportunity Act 2010

Needless to say we were not drunk, we got the Uber home and my partner was visibly upset and hurt, knowing that this can still happen in this day and age, and it goes without saying, we will never return to The Bay Hotel Mornington ever again. In the UK and London, we have lived happily and freely and successfully, and been married for fourteen years and been together for over twenty four years.

It is with great regret I write this, but a warning to anyone that this behaviour is clearly still acceptable and, worse, thriving and supported, under the guise and excuse of being ‘too drunk’ which we weren’t (check the CCTV footage) when it was clearly visible for all to see. I had a dance and enjoyed the band and had enjoyed myself up until that point of sadly being asked to leave.

So if you’re part of the LGBTQ community, don’t ever support this venue as it clearly doesn’t deserve your time and hard earned money, and simply put, ‘we don’t want your kind here’ attitude, which is both archaic and outdated and against the law.

I thought Australia had moved on……. Clearly it hasn’t at all…….

Service was amazing. The manager was so accomodating and so nice! Bent over backwards for us. We were in the vault and they streamed the UFC for us even though the sports bar was closed. Highly recommend.

Good pub, feels really authentic traditional type of pub, food is good, beer is good, genuine pub.

Just been to a cracking Thursday night comedy show at The Bay. Relaxed vibe, decent beers and good bar food. Worth keeping an eye on the upcoming events or just head there for a meal and few drinks with your mates.

Sadly the service was terrible, waitress was very rude and our meals were less than desirable. Stale burger bun, very dry potatoes.

Atmosphere is lovely though.

We had the first winemaker dinner and it was amazing
Elegant meals paired with quealy pinot gris and pinot noirs, incredible, will go to the next one for sure!

We went to a show here, great show room upstairs, with a good bar. We didn't have a meal but it looked popular

Enjoyed a delicious meal tonight. The prices are reasonable given the quality of the food. Also great customer service. Highly recommend this place. We will be back ️

What an amazing atmosphere & the food was absolutely amazing! Would recommend to all Mornington locals

Parma was absolutely delicious! I opt for mashed potato and salad as the side (I had to pay extra to swap, but was absolutely worth it). Parma was 10/10 and mash was just as delicious. Yum! We will definitely return if in the area again! Highly recommend

Was heading out for a friends birthday and never have I experienced such discrimination. Was told at the door, only accepting locals, although I was with an Asian and an Italian and purely based on race I was denied entry. Extremely disappointed and want an explanation from the owners.

Waited an hour after ordering our meals. We asked where they were and was told they were never coming anyway. The kitchen seemed fairly quiet. Come for a beer, don't eat here.

Great live music, delicious food and outstanding people running the show. Thanks to Kylie for making our Sunday night with the kids lots of fun.

Awesome pub. Would recommend heading upstairs! Newly renovated but with an old school cosy feel! Great in the summer too

First time back in ages. Great renovation.food was delish, great play list, awesome vibe! We'll be back!

Arrogant bartender on a Sunday. Young guy didn’t know how to treat people at all. No straws and got angry when asked for one at the bar.

Way over priced for poor food, expensive steak came already cut in half? Bizarre.

Salad was just leaves with no other ingredients, I wouldn’t imagine chucking in some basic salad ingredients and a bit of love would be too difficult since your paying a premium price.

I suggest they go and have a meal at ‘The Heritage’ In Balnarring and look at how they do things they could learn a lot!

A nice looking venue but unfortunately that’s about it.

Great hotel. Meal was delicious and both Bar staff and Food staff were exceptional. Highly recommend this Hotel. We are visiting from Qld.