The Imperial Hotel Clifton — Heritage Pub, Restaurant and Ocean Views near Sea Cliff Bridge
The Imperial Hotel at Clifton sits on a clifftop above the Tasman Sea, a few hundred metres from Sea Cliff Bridge on Lawrence Hargrave Drive. It's a handsome 1911 building with a complicated history — a coal miners' pub that closed, fell into disrepair, and was rescued and restored to become one of the most interesting stops on the NSW South Coast.
A Brief History
The site has had a pub since 1884, when a small timber-framed hotel was built to serve the local coal mining community. After being acquired by Resch's Brewery the original building was demolished and replaced by the current two-storey structure in 1911.
The hotel traded for most of the twentieth century before a series of blows in quick succession. The local coal mine closed in 1991, taking much of the pub's regular trade with it. Then in 2003 persistent rockfalls on Lawrence Hargrave Drive forced the road to close — and the Imperial closed with it.
The building sat boarded up and deteriorating for over a decade until 2015, when the Shellharbour Workers Club purchased it and committed to a substantial renovation. The Imperial reopened in 2020.
The Renovation
The restoration is genuinely impressive — sympathetic to the building's heritage while bringing it firmly into the present. Features worth looking for inside:
Lighthouse lenses have been repurposed as light fittings in the main foyer — an apt detail for a building on the coast. The original mottled cream and orange wall tiles on the ground floor facade have been carefully matched and restored. Interior brick walls have had mortar removed to expose the original brickwork. The dark timber flooring throughout is reclaimed hardwood oiled with hardwax. Original fireplaces have been restored and are lit in colder months. The front verandah has been rebuilt to match the original balcony.
Lift walls are lined with historical newspaper articles from the building's past. The staircase features a hand-painted mural based on a 1961 photograph of former staff and the licensee.
The Parlour
One of the more historically interesting rooms is The Parlour, across from the front bar. Until the 1970s, women in Australia were not permitted to drink in the public bars of hotels alongside men. The Parlour — or Ladies Lounge — was where women at The Imperial could be served drinks, through a dedicated hatch rather than a bar. The room has been preserved as a reminder of what was standard practice within living memory.
Getting There
The Imperial is located on Lawrence Hargrave Drive at Clifton, approximately 50 kilometres south of Sydney. It sits a few hundred metres north of Sea Cliff Bridge — if you're driving south from Sydney the hotel appears on your right as the road approaches the clifftop section.
Parking is available in the car park below the hotel, accessed from Lawrence Hargrave Drive.
Visiting with Sydney Nimble Tours
The Imperial is an optional stop on our Royal National Park Private Tour & our South Coast & Kiama Private Tour from Sydney. We time the visit to coincide with lunch or a coffee stop, with Sea Cliff Bridge and Bombo Headland Quarry at Kiama typically on the same day's itinerary.
The Imperial Hotel Clifton — built in 1911, restored and reopened in 2020
The original mottled cream and orange tiles have been carefully matched and restored
Lighthouse lenses repurposed as light fittings in the main foyer — one of several details worth looking for
The ground floor — exposed brick archways, reclaimed hardwood floors and views through to the restaurant