No rooms at the inn any more as Centre of Town closes

Narrabri has lost an accommodation provider which had earned an iconic reputation far and wide in the eight years it operated in Maitland Street.

COT, full name ‘Centre of Town’, was a well priced place to stay for travellers from across Australia and overseas.

COT offered visitors comfortable, old-world accommodation in the former Clubhouse Hotel, but with all the modern amenities. COT enjoyed a wide reputation and in fact was given a high 9.4 consumer rating by a booking website which covers some 800,000 accommodation businesses globally.

Guests entered the COT through original leadlight doors, and climbed the vintage cedar staircase to their rooms and high ceilinged common areas.

It was a popular place to stay, with guests often greeted by COT’s operator, enthusiastic promoter of Narrabri, Don Cunningham, who leased the upstairs accommodation from the building’s owners.

However, the doors have now closed on COT due to the demands of modern fire safety regulations, circumstances outside Mr Cunningham’s control.

He expressed regret that the venue had to close, noting that demand was expected to rise dramatically as the Inland Rail Project contractors began to move into Narrabri and other developments followed. Bookings were already in place for the years ahead.

On Saturday morning, a clearing sale of all the equipment and items which made the COT a home away from home for travellers saw keen interest from buyers.

On offer were fridges and furnishings, artworks, homewares and all the accoutrements of the venue.

At the end of the day, just about everything had found new owners, with buyers arriving from 7am. (There are still some items, TVs and tables available – phone Don.)