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Oamaru's Criterion Back in Business

The "flagship building" of Oamaru’s Victorian precinct is back in business. Katrina McLarin and Brenda Laverick reopened the doors of the Criterion Hotel, Bar and Eatery last night, after previous lease-holders Herbert and Marise Martin moved on in January.The building had undergone a $200,000-plus refurbishment, to ensure its "long-term viability", including an $80,000 kitchen revamp."We wanted to keep the elements that we thought were very important to the historical nature of the building i...

Stars Aligned for new owners of Criterion Hotel

They were there when it last closed and will be there for the reopening - only on the other side of the bar. When the Criterion Hotel, Bar and Eatery opens again, Katrina McLarin and Brenda Laverick are going to be behind the bar as the owners of the new establishment. The women, who opened the Casa Nova accommodation business in Oamaru early last year, have now entered into a lease with the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust to open up the Criterion again.The Criterion closed in January this year wh...